Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Decreases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.3% during the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.4% during the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.2% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 25,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,104,000 after buying an additional 1,946 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth approximately $736,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.5% during the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,464,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,097,000 after buying an additional 128,071 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE AJG opened at $280.70 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $275.56 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $71.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.87 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $299.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $314.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.93%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $344.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.43.

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.