Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,601,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Steph & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total transaction of $313,425.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,344,571.98. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 37,105 shares of company stock worth $10,796,353 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $361.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of 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. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $340.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.6%

AJG opened at $248.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $239.47 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $277.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.87 billion, a PE ratio of 35.33 and a beta of 0.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 38.86%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.