Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lessened its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents 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 have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $343.70 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $323.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $301.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $355.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.