Angeles Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Centennial Bank AR bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $315.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.61 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $322.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $322.73. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $267.00 and a 1 year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 37.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AJG. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $322.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total transaction of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,109,256.33. The trade was a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 value of $3,540,285.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 91,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,741,474.75. The trade was a 10.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.