Choreo LLC Grows Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Choreo LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 128.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,946 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 116,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,287,000 after acquiring an additional 20,723 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $255,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $551,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AJG. Barclays started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. 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 research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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 increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $276.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $298.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $65.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $280.63 and its 200 day moving average is $259.92. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $218.63 and a 52 week high of $299.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at $93,121,853.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,348 shares of company stock valued at $13,342,910 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.