Prospera Private Wealth LLC Takes $8.01 Million Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 28,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,013,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 1.5% of Prospera Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% in the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.14.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,853,685.40. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $292.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.68, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $218.63 and a 12-month high of $301.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $288.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $275.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.