Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,369,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,825 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $354,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,123,534,000 after purchasing an additional 217,136 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,783,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,649,477,000 after purchasing an additional 101,298 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,891,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,373,403,000 after purchasing an additional 147,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,228,156,000 after purchasing an additional 45,256 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AJG. UBS Group set a $240.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Citigroup raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.3%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $204.21 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $211.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $52.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.54. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $190.75 and a twelve month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.