Wedmont Private Capital Sells 63 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Wedmont Private Capital decreased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 63 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centennial Bank AR bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of AJG opened at $296.64 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $274.25 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a market cap of $76.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.14 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $299.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $318.58.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.78, for a total transaction of $899,340.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 114,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,407,849.06. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was 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 approximately $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $317.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $345.00 to $322.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $333.13.

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.