Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Sells 144 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% during the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at $9,853,685.40. The trade was a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $294.58 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $218.63 and a 12-month high of $301.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.11, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.96. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.14.

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.