Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Purchased by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 72.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,725 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% in the fourth 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. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. TD Cowen upped 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, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE AJG opened at $231.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.68. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $198.52 and a 52-week high of $256.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $244.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.70. 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. 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 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

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.