Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 419 shares during the quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $8,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,135,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 284.1% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,698,000 after buying an additional 859 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $543,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $275.38.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG traded down $3.99 on Friday, reaching $287.83. 431,617 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 831,655. The firm has a market cap of $62.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $273.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $255.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $292.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,121,853.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 48,348 shares of company stock worth $13,342,910. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.