Swiss National Bank Purchases 6,700 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 648,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $182,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,763,177,000 after purchasing an additional 727,325 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 398,350 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,640,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,511,000 after acquiring an additional 42,841 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,611,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,206,000 after acquiring an additional 38,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,410,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,718,000 after purchasing an additional 50,650 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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

In related news, 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 transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,625,146.84. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $294.58 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.11, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $218.63 and a 12-month high of $301.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $288.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.22.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.14.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.