Findlay Park Partners LLP Has $302.23 Million Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Findlay Park Partners LLP lessened its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 944,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 228,100 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up about 3.1% of Findlay Park Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Findlay Park Partners LLP’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $302,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,997,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,815,007 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $10,499,185,000 after buying an additional 739,130 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at about $240,665,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3,142.2% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,268,000 after acquiring an additional 621,143 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $160,922,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $361.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $328.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on 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. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $248.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $63.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $277.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $247.12 per share, with a total value of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,341,724.88. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 37,105 shares of company stock valued at $10,796,353 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.