Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 76,768 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 31,173,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,768 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $9,655,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.2% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 25,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,946 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.8% in the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 6,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,007,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $208.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $195.00 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The company has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.03.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 42.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AJG. BMO Capital Markets lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, October 31st. Truist Financial set a $271.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,472,271.97. This trade represents a 18.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total value of $1,290,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 26,100 shares of company stock worth $6,677,865 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.