Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,391,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 95,195 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $445,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% in the 2nd 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 purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Motco boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 700.0% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $247.12 per share, with a total value of $988,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,341,724.88. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $340.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $353.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $361.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.73.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of AJG stock opened at $243.23 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $293.59 and a 200 day moving average of $309.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.55 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $239.47 and a 1-year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.86%.

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.