LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Grows Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 60.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $341.70 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $295.63. The company has a market cap of $87.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.41 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $343.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.