Vicus Capital Invests $204,000 in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Vicus Capital acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 93,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,693,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 93,730 shares in the company, valued at $24,693,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.24, for a total value of $205,792.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 44,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,496,312.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 53,165 shares of company stock valued at $13,629,049 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday. Argus lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $274.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $263.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:AJG traded down $0.82 on Friday, reaching $259.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,393,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 978,833. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $210.86 and a 1-year high of $266.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $56.66 billion, a PE ratio of 52.49, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $251.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.55.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.