Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes $4.12 Million Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 19,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,115,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth about $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.1%

AJG opened at $247.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $226.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.95. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $190.75 and a one year high of $315.48. The stock has a market cap of $63.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $225.00 to $276.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.