Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 75 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Freedom Investment Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Motco increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 700.0% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $317.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $344.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.5%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $281.01 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $298.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $312.45. The company has a market capitalization of $72.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92 and a beta of 0.73. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $275.56 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.