Forsta AP Fonden Purchases 5,700 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $12,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% in the second quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,409,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AJG. UBS Group increased 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays began coverage on shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $282.97 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $218.63 and a 1 year high of $301.04. The firm has a market cap of $61.83 billion, a PE ratio of 57.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $289.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $269.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total transaction of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,855.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total transaction of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,855.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. This trade represents 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 insiders.

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.