Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 15.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,796 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $18,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $382,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth about $228,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 54.1% in the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.4% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $369.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $328.80.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $310.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $297.60 and a 200-day moving average of $316.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $275.56 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.17 and a beta of 0.73.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.