Investment Management Corp of Ontario Reduces Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario lowered its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,700 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $23,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after purchasing an additional 383,130 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,640,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,511,000 after purchasing an additional 42,841 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,410,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,718,000 after purchasing an additional 50,650 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,330,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,408,000 after acquiring an additional 31,181 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. The trade was a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 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 $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 $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $307.96 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $291.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $279.74. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $316.72. The company has a market cap of $67.57 billion, a PE ratio of 58.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

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.