Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Trims Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $13,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 47,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,408,000 after acquiring an additional 4,012 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 723,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,544,000 after acquiring an additional 275,832 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $321.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $81.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.34 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $345.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $308.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $297.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. As a group, analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.93.

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