Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Purchases 1,451 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 361,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,281,000 after purchasing an additional 28,359 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,841,000. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 70.4% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,213,000 after acquiring an additional 5,308 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 194,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,649,000 after acquiring an additional 20,302 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $979,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $291.18 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $285.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.35. The firm has a market cap of $63.62 billion, a PE ratio of 58.94, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $218.63 and a 1-year high of $301.04.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $277.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total value of $4,244,400.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $8,536,855.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at $93,121,853.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,145 shares of company stock worth $10,629,900. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.