Aigen Investment Management LP Takes Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 2,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $759,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after buying an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 133,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,661,000 after buying an additional 7,946 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 65,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,398,000 after buying an additional 6,090 shares during the last quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 241.4% in the 3rd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 49,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,332,000 after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Professional Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 78,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,302,000 after buying an additional 8,539 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:AJG opened at $218.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $210.97 and its 200 day moving average is $227.92. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 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. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $283.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Mizuho cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.