Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Acquired by LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,545 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,997,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,815,007 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,499,185,000 after acquiring an additional 739,130 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth $240,665,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3,142.2% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,268,000 after purchasing an additional 621,143 shares during the period. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth $136,565,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $328.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $310.95 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $275.56 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a market cap of $79.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.17 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average of $297.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.93%.

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.