Synovus Financial Corp Reduces Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Synovus Financial Corp lessened its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,768 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% during the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,800 shares of company stock worth $4,789,260. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.57.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $284.69 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $281.81. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $218.63 and a 52 week high of $316.72. The stock has a market cap of $62.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.23, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is 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, 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.