Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by WBH Advisory Inc.

WBH Advisory Inc. cut its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 685 shares during the quarter. WBH Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $321.59 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $293.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.01. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $329.60. The firm has a market cap of $80.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.