VeraBank N.A. Buys 4,497 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

VeraBank N.A. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 136.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,497 shares during the period. VeraBank N.A.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% in the second quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $812,000. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% in the second quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $762,473,000 after purchasing an additional 94,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.7% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 43,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,174,000 after buying an additional 2,362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,569,792. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $250.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $64.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65 and a beta of 0.71. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $239.47 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $288.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $306.48.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 38.86%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.