Douglas K. Howell Sells 7,000 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $281.19 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $61.61 billion, a PE ratio of 53.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $218.63 and a 12 month high of $301.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $288.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $270.41.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 519,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,854,000 after buying an additional 5,553 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 45,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,350,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $3,841,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.3% during the first quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.00.

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.