Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Purchased by Sands Capital Management LLC

Sands Capital Management LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 453.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,121,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 918,618 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC owned about 0.44% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $358,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,642,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% during the second quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,758 shares during the last quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $812,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 735,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $762,473,000 after purchasing an additional 94,940 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is 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 Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total value of $313,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,344,571.98. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,105 shares of company stock valued at $10,796,353. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $353.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $328.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group upped 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. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.8%

AJG stock opened at $244.10 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $239.47 and a one year high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $62.69 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $273.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $297.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its 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). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

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.