HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 214.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,458 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Allred Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AJG. Barclays dropped 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 report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $311.52 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.09 and a beta of 0.71. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $267.00 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $325.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $321.95. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.45 EPS. 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 was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was 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 owned 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 91,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,741,474.75. This trade represents a 10.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.