Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 13.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 117,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,144 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up approximately 2.0% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $30,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $992,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $276.82.

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

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total transaction of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 30,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,536,855.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total value of $1,799,520.10. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,855.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,348 shares of company stock valued at $13,342,910 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of AJG opened at $298.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $218.63 and a 1 year high of $299.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $280.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.92. The firm has a market cap of $65.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.58%.

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.