Cwm LLC Purchases 1,857 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Cwm LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $21,625,146.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,121,853.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $287.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE AJG opened at $287.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $62.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 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 12-month low of $218.63 and a 12-month high of $301.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.37.

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 firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

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.