Advisors Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 778 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,779,248,000 after buying an additional 787,265 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $1,421,591,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $801,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $719,489,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on 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. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $315.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.4 %

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $4.75 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $324.48. The stock had a trading volume of 68,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,260,498. The company has a market cap of $82.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.85 and a beta of 0.64. The business's 50 day moving average price is $330.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $306.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $232.27 and a 52 week high of $350.70. 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. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 over the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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