Moody National Bank Trust Division Sells 2,517 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Moody National Bank Trust Division trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 35.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,517 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,601,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.8% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 31,912.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 140,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,885,000 after purchasing an additional 139,775 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,217,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.9% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $292.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.1%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $213.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $195.00 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $227.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.28. The firm has a market cap of $55.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.53%.

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.