Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Holdings Lowered by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp lowered its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 245,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 269 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $63,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 361,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,281,000 after acquiring an additional 28,359 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,841,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 70.4% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 5,308 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake 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 valued at $48,649,000 after purchasing an additional 20,302 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $979,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $282.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $61.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $285.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $262.49.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,654,772.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,145 shares of company stock valued at $10,629,900. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.47.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.