Oak Ridge Investments LLC Sells 647 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Oak Ridge Investments LLC lessened its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 647 shares during the quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AJG. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $301.75 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $299.11 and a 200 day moving average of $315.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $275.56 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $77.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.86 and a beta of 0.73.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

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.