TD Asset Management Inc Grows Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 918,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,300 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $316,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $719,489,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,327,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910,471 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $801,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,283 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,511.2% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,758,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 53,148.8% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,319,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 2.0%

AJG opened at $315.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $80.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.61 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $322.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $322.47. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $267.00 and a one year high of $351.23. 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 released its 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. 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 37.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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 research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.21.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.