Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,438 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,438 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $16,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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 began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of 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 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.29.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total transaction of $3,540,285.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 91,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,741,474.75. This represents a 10.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 45,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $320.84 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $251.42 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $330.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $317.56. The stock has a market cap of $82.17 billion, a PE ratio of 46.43 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 14.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was 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.