Klingman & Associates LLC Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Klingman & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the first quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% during the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% during the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $278.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $313.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $275.56 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.59 and a beta of 0.73.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued 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 target price of $331.43.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.