W Advisors LLC Increases Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

W Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. W Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,763,177,000 after buying an additional 727,325 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,308,316,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 398,350 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $656,217,000 after purchasing an additional 14,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,611,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,206,000 after purchasing an additional 38,886 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $276.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 93,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,693,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,348 shares of company stock worth $13,342,910 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.3 %

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $294.19 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $218.63 and a 12 month high of $298.24. The company has a market capitalization of $64.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $259.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.58%.

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.