American Century Companies Inc. Has $5.41 Million Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 84.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 101,545 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $318.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $350.70. The firm has a market cap of $81.57 billion, a PE ratio of 48.92 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $326.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.40.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.88%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.