Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 7,384 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 312,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,384 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $81,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,763,177,000 after acquiring an additional 727,325 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,832,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,208,208,000 after purchasing an additional 398,350 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $656,217,000 after purchasing an additional 14,366 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,611,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,206,000 after buying an additional 38,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,567,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,029,000 after buying an additional 79,271 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of AJG opened at $276.06 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $285.49 and its 200 day moving average is $262.72. 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 12-month low of $218.63 and a 12-month high of $301.04. The company has a market capitalization of $60.32 billion, a PE ratio of 55.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. Research 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,145 shares of company stock worth $12,622,660 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. 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. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.93.

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.