Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) VP Scott Hudson Sells 12,000 Shares

Key Points

• Insider sale: VP Scott Hudson sold 12,000 AJG shares at an average price of $264.13, worth approximately $3.17 million, reducing his direct stake by 11.73% to 90,262 shares.
• Financial performance: Arthur J. Gallagher reported quarterly EPS of $2.84, exceeding estimates of $2.81, while revenue rose 24.3% year over year to $3.95 billion, below the $4.01 billion consensus.
• Investor outlook: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, and analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $290.28 versus the reported share price of $262.24.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) VP Scott Hudson sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.13, for a total value of $3,169,560.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 90,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,840,902.06. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded down $4.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $262.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,012,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,966,151. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $313.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.42.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 811 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 96,002 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,039,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth about $3,587,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23,248.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 86,171,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,782,367,000 after purchasing an additional 85,802,321 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 94.4% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,696 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 3,251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AJG. Mizuho raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $290.28.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company's core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.

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