Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 18.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 191 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 2,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, ERn Financial LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $274.44.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.24, for a total value of $205,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,496,312.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.24, for a total value of $205,792.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,496,312.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,717 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total transaction of $2,240,269.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 44,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,485,587. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 68,210 shares of company stock valued at $17,911,529. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE AJG traded up $2.95 on Tuesday, hitting $281.27. The company had a trading volume of 772,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,258. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $215.37 and a 12-month high of $290.31. The company has a market capitalization of $61.46 billion, a PE ratio of 56.93, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $264.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.