Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Bought by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $1,431,788,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,609,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $880,442,000 after buying an additional 74,974 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth about $418,715,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,143,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $404,069,000 after buying an additional 619,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the first quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,827,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,609,000 after buying an additional 119,641 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP William F. Ziebell sold 20,067 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $4,840,561.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 35,228 shares in the company, valued at $8,497,698.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 21,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.00, for a total value of $5,057,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 44,691 shares in the company, valued at $10,368,312. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP William F. Ziebell sold 20,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $4,840,561.74. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 35,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,497,698.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,926 shares of company stock worth $22,505,073 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $277.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $238.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $266.00 in a report on Friday, October 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $245.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.99 billion, a PE ratio of 47.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.69. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $174.45 and a 1 year high of $249.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.46% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business’s revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.15%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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 businesses and organizations 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.