Empirical Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,893,000 after buying an additional 11,752 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,450,000 after purchasing an additional 14,860 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,237,000 after purchasing an additional 618,362 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,732,000 after buying an additional 2,092 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 22,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,381,000 after buying an additional 3,217 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $292.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.07.

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

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $295.22 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $227.08 and a 52-week high of $316.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.23 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $291.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $287.02.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.