Maloon Powers Pitre Higgins & Dennehy LLC Makes New $509,000 Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Maloon Powers Pitre Higgins & Dennehy LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $509,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AJG. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG opened at $262.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $254.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $313.55.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 9.96%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 46.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter Bay sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total value of $3,240,960.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 71,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,254,543.36. This trade represents a 14.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher Mead sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $899,570.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,711,755.46. The trade was a 13.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $7,310,090 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $290.28.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.