Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Grows Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,043 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,040 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Balboa Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 2,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 32,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,169,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 705,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $200,143,000 after buying an additional 56,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burkehill Global Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $156,118,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $310.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $2.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $332.02. The stock had a trading volume of 2,675,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,147,473. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.92 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $345.43. The stock's fifty day moving average is $316.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.