Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 25.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,636 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Elm3 Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth $232,000. Abel Hall LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth $225,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.4% in the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 4,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Somerville Kurt F purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth $252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $322.31.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total value of $342,040.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 45,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,502,278.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total value of $3,540,285.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 91,175 shares in the company, valued at $30,741,474.75. This trade represents a 10.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE AJG opened at $315.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $322.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $322.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $267.00 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The company has a market capitalization of $80.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.61 and a beta of 0.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.63%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.