Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $317.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $278.75 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $299.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $313.13. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $275.56 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.59 and a beta of 0.73.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.