abrdn plc Sells 10,055 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

abrdn plc decreased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,055 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $17,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,513,199,000 after purchasing an additional 47,656 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,541,044,000 after purchasing an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $899,538,000 after buying an additional 383,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,330,703 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $374,408,000 after buying an additional 31,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AJG. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $319.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $320.72. The stock has a market cap of $79.88 billion, a PE ratio of 49.04 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $291.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be 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. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.

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