Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 14.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,688 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $17,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% in the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Security National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 36,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,560,583.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 36,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,560,583.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total value of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,855.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,348 shares of company stock worth $13,342,910 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $276.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $294.19 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $218.63 and a 12 month high of $298.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $279.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $259.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $64.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.