Trust Point Inc. Invests $544,000 in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Trust Point Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,664,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,202,742,000 after acquiring an additional 726,485 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,940,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,963,026,000 after acquiring an additional 262,187 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $1,431,788,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,209,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,345,000 after buying an additional 34,999 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,000,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,139,872,000 after buying an additional 90,842 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $240.32 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $192.97 and a 1 year high of $256.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $243.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.25. The firm has a market cap of $52.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AJG. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $280.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $246.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.62.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total transaction of $3,825,900.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 96,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,666,597.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.