Financial Counselors Inc. Grows Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AJG. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 price target (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of AJG opened at $234.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.21 billion, a PE ratio of 52.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $244.73 and a 200 day moving average of $238.56. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $196.70 and a 52-week high of $256.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at $516,269.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at $76,712,707.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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 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.