Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) VP Christopher Mead Sells 4,000 Shares

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) VP Christopher Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. This trade represents a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $262.79. 1,329,641 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,597,161. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $236.34 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $67.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.28 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $254.78 and its 200-day moving average is $286.41.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 38.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,954,625,000 after purchasing an additional 685,278 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after buying an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,783,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,649,477,000 after buying an additional 101,298 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,891,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,373,403,000 after acquiring an additional 147,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,228,156,000 after acquiring an additional 45,256 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $328.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $272.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $302.22.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.