BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 47,072 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 29.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 47,072 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $32,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% during the second quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at $29,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.64.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $312.09 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $290.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $218.63 and a one year high of $316.72. The firm has a market cap of $68.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.45, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.