Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 17,514 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 128.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,152 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,514 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total transaction of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at $76,712,707.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $2.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $250.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 960,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 888,885. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $242.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $186.88 and a one year high of $256.10. The stock has a market cap of $54.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $246.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $249.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $255.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.