Wedmont Private Capital Raises Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 94.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,251 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,924,000 after buying an additional 5,947 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% in the second quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,398,000 after buying an additional 19,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth about $412,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $267.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $276.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $291.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $290.28.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher Mead sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total value of $899,570.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,711,755.46. This represents a 13.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott Hudson sold 12,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.13, for a total value of $3,169,560.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 90,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,840,902.06. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $7,310,090 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $262.24 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $313.55. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $254.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $228.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $67.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.43%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.