Opal Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $156,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 34.3% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.2%

AJG stock opened at $316.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.52 and a beta of 0.74. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $251.42 and a one year high of $351.23. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $331.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $317.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 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 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,109,256.33. The trade was a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,510 shares of company stock valued at $11,033,341 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $319.29.

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.