Mizuho Securities USA LLC Buys 9,465 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 66.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,465 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 929 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth approximately $324,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 30,432 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,563,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,363,000 after acquiring an additional 3,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 305,002 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,819,000 after purchasing an additional 153,884 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $313.20.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $5.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $341.78. 1,330,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,151,871. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.42 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $345.43. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $319.90 and its 200 day moving average is $300.37.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 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 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is 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.