Bank of Montreal Can Reduces Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 225,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,095 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.09% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $72,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% in 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,499,185,000 after acquiring an additional 739,130 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $240,665,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3,142.2% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,268,000 after acquiring an additional 621,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $136,565,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares in the company, valued at $10,341,724.88. This represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $251.51 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $239.47 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $292.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $308.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.73 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.

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 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 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $340.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.73.

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.