Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $4.75 Million Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lessened its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,266 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Motco lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $249.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $64.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.48 and a beta of 0.71. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $239.47 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $289.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.40. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 38.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,569,792. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $340.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.73.

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.