Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Decreases Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lowered its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 229,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,014 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 0.10% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $64,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,538,000 after acquiring an additional 383,130 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $425,511,000 after purchasing an additional 42,841 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position 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 buying an additional 38,886 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $365,718,000 after buying an additional 50,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,076,000 after buying an additional 790,467 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Bank of America increased 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 note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group increased 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. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $304.29 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $288.55 and a 200 day moving average of $277.18. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $218.63 and a 12 month high of $308.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, 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 value of $2,103,020.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,853,685.40. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.