Invesco Ltd. Purchases 503,205 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,354,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 503,205 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $753,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% during the second quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,189,000 after buying an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $812,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during 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 in 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 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.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:AJG opened at $245.20 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $272.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $297.15. The stock has a market cap of $62.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.65 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $239.47 and a 12 month 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $291.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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. Piper Sandler decreased their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.33.

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

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total transaction of $313,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,344,571.98. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 37,105 shares of company stock valued at $10,796,353 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.