Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 4,495 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,495 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 91.8% in the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 50,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,509,000 after acquiring an additional 23,972 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 89,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,735,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795 shares in the last quarter. Pelham Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,837,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 90,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,993,000 after buying an additional 3,229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $271.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $311.00 to $298.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,472,271.97. The trade was a 18.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,100 shares of company stock worth $6,677,865. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $214.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $55.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.66. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $195.00 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.54.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

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

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.