Brown Advisory Inc. Lowers Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Brown Advisory Inc. lessened its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,027,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 489,993 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 0.79% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $524,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $759,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,316,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,138,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $218.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $210.97 and a 200 day moving average of $228.06. The company has a market cap of $56.14 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $327.34.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The firm’s revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $283.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $263.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.