Fisher Funds Management LTD Takes Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 86,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,652,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,874,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.2% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 30,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,675,000 after buying an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29,927.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 232,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,394,000 after buying an additional 231,638 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.0 %

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $325.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $329.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.41.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 39.88%.

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

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.