BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases 128,675 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 36.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 477,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 128,675 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $123,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 10,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,604,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $201.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $211.10 and its 200 day moving average is $230.80. The firm has a market cap of $51.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.53.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.31%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.