This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Arthur J. Gallagher

We'd be surprised if Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) shareholders haven't noticed that the Independent Director, Sherry Barrat, recently sold US$259k worth of stock at US$295 per share. On the bright side, that sale was only 4.4% of their holding, so we doubt it's very meaningful, on its own.

View our latest analysis for Arthur J. Gallagher

Arthur J. Gallagher Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Corporate VP & CFO, Douglas Howell, for US$4.0m worth of shares, at about US$250 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$298, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 16% of Douglas Howell's holding.

In the last year Arthur J. Gallagher insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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Does Arthur J. Gallagher Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Arthur J. Gallagher insiders own about US$776m worth of shares (which is 1.2% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Arthur J. Gallagher Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But since Arthur J. Gallagher is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Arthur J. Gallagher. While conducting our analysis, we found that Arthur J. Gallagher has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.