Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lessened its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 61.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,610 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.2% during the third quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 65,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,398,000 after purchasing an additional 6,090 shares in the last quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 241.4% during the third quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 49,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,332,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cincinnati Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,824,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AJG. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.2%

AJG opened at $216.37 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $55.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $195.00 and a one year high of $351.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $223.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.58.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost 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%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction 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 $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.