Values First Advisors Inc. Sells 551 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Values First Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 36.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 551 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 13,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 4,102 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.4% during the third quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 3,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $511,910,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,940,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,963,026,000 after acquiring an additional 262,187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $246.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $249.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG traded up $2.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $250.06. 960,704 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 888,885. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $186.88 and a 52-week high of $256.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $242.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.63. The company has a market cap of $54.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 54.05%.

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.