NorthRock Partners LLC Has $581,000 Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 146.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $338.19 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $244.60 and a 1 year high of $350.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $330.48 and its 200-day moving average is $311.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.87 and a beta of 0.78.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.57.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.