Simplicity Solutions LLC Has $1.56 Million Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $232.09 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $198.52 and a twelve month 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $244.65 and a 200-day moving average of $238.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.68.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 9.63%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.