Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 23.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 506 shares during the quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,109,256.33. This trade represents a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 91,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.5%

AJG stock opened at $309.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $267.00 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $326.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.96. The stock has a market cap of $79.31 billion, a PE ratio of 44.82 and a beta of 0.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 14.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’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, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.63%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.