Greenleaf Trust Grows Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth $838,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 37.7% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 11,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $236.57 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $198.52 and a 12-month high of $256.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $244.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $238.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. 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 payout ratio is 54.05%.

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

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction of $308,026.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.