Wintrust Investments LLC Raises Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Wintrust Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 71 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $1,431,788,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $418,715,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 670.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,302,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $286,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,502 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 39,117.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 987,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,824,000 after purchasing an additional 984,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,143,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $404,069,000 after purchasing an additional 619,008 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of AJG opened at $245.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $52.99 billion, a PE ratio of 47.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $234.76 and a 200 day moving average of $222.81. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $174.45 and a 52-week high of $249.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.46% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AJG. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $238.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $266.00 in a report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.71.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.99, for a total value of $6,779,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 164,371 shares in the company, valued at $37,146,202.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 4,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total value of $1,050,284.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 127,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,288,482.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.99, for a total value of $6,779,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 164,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,146,202.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,926 shares of company stock worth $22,505,073. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to businesses and organizations worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.