Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Holdings Lifted by NewEdge Advisors LLC

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,718 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $53,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after buying an additional 3,851,661 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $719,489,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $801,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $568,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,441 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $335.20 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $329.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.00. The company has a market capitalization of $85.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.41 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.27.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.