Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 4,628 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 35,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,628 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Manhattan West Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $247.57 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $63.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.95. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $315.48. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $242.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.35.

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.