Simon Quick Advisors LLC Grows Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 99.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 798 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after buying an additional 949 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after buying an additional 982 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of several analyst 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total transaction of $3,540,285.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 91,175 shares in the company, valued at $30,741,474.75. This represents a 10.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,510 shares of company stock valued at $11,033,341 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $316.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $251.42 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $331.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $317.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.63%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.