Ellis Investment Partners LLC Sells 79 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Ellis Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 43,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,041,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,879,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $301.75 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.37 billion, a PE ratio of 42.86 and a beta of 0.73. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $299.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $315.45. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.56 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 36.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced 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 note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $344.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $317.00 price target for the company. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.43.

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.