Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Lowers Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AJG opened at $282.49 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $275.56 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.13 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $298.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $312.72. 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 issued 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 net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 36.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AJG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.43.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were 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 directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.