Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Lowers Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,260 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% in the second quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,398,000 after purchasing an additional 19,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at $412,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $242.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $255.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $65.70 billion, a PE ratio of 41.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $316.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $220.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.