Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 29.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,173 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $94,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 735,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cincinnati Financial Corp bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter worth $42,824,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 32,650 shares of company stock worth $8,137,686 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $226.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $217.87 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $195.00 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $56.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $238.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.54.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.53%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.