Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC Purchases 479 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 479 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up about 0.6% of Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% in 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. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 47.6% during the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE AJG opened at $295.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $73.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.23 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $227.08 and a 12 month high of $316.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $291.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. The trade was a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.