Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 8,364 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Ritholtz Wealth Management decreased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 83.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,364 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Corundum Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.0% during the first quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 1,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,665,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $569,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 62,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,489,000 after purchasing an additional 22,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $327,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $239.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $61.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $190.75 and a twelve month high of $320.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $211.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.31%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.