125,858 Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Bought by Dearborn Partners LLC

Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 125,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,258,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for 1.5% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $290.28.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $271.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $245.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $190.75 and a one year high of $313.55. The company has a market capitalization of $69.71 billion, a PE ratio of 45.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 46.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total value of $899,570.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,711,755.46. The trade was a 13.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.