Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Acquired by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 27.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Motco boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 700.0% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the transaction, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $306.99 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $275.56 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $78.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.61 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $298.46 and a 200-day moving average of $316.28.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $344.00 target price for the company. 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $328.87.

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.