Ninety One North America Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Ninety One North America Inc. lowered its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 15.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 603 shares during the period. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.3%

AJG opened at $309.73 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $275.56 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $297.80 and its 200-day moving average is $317.10. The company has a market capitalization of $79.41 billion, a PE ratio of 44.00 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 36.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $344.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $369.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $330.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $2,396,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 value of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,855 shares of company stock worth $8,916,928 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.