Aspiriant LLC Makes New $258,000 Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Aspiriant LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Allred Capital Management LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Allred Capital Management LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $960,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the first quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 34.3% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 7,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,484,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $317.20 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $331.32 and a 200 day moving average of $317.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $251.42 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $81.24 billion, a PE ratio of 45.90 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.63%.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $15,502,278.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total value of $3,540,285.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 91,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,741,474.75. This trade 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 worth $11,033,341 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.29.

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.