Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% during the second quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 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 represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $306.45 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $288.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $67.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $218.63 and a 1-year high of $308.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. 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 research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research 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.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.