GAM Holding AG reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,226 shares during the quarter. GAM Holding AG's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,893,000 after acquiring an additional 11,752 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,450,000 after buying an additional 14,860 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $249,237,000 after buying an additional 618,362 shares during the last quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 48,722 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,830,000 after buying an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,732,000 after buying an additional 2,092 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company 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 upped their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.00.
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Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
In related news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance
Shares of AJG traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $325.28. 952,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,745,089. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $297.14 and a 200-day moving average of $293.00. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $329.60. The stock has a market cap of $82.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.51.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile
(
Free Report)
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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