B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,160,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $256.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.31 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $262.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $236.34 and a 1 year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.86%.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Michael Robert Pesch purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the purchase, the vice president owned 41,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,341,724.88. This represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total transaction of $313,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,344,571.98. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,250 shares of company stock worth $6,071,365. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $328.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.50.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.