Scotia Capital Inc. Boosts Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,954,625,000 after buying an additional 685,278 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,997,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,815,007 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,959,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,798,000 after purchasing an additional 137,354 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 128,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $762,473,000 after purchasing an additional 94,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares in the company, valued at $10,341,724.88. This represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total value of $313,425.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,344,571.98. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 37,105 shares of company stock worth $10,796,353 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $246.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $274.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $298.21. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $239.47 and a 1-year 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 cap of $63.26 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99 and a beta of 0.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is presently 38.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $291.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $353.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.