Sands Capital Management LLC Sells 27,179 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Sands Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,094,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,179 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $338,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,650 shares of company stock valued at $8,137,686. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $211.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $237.97 and a 200 day moving average of $261.90. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $195.00 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $292.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price 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. Mizuho upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $262.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.65.

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.