Ieq Capital LLC Cuts Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Ieq Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,244 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AJG. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,513,199,000 after buying an additional 47,656 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,541,044,000 after buying an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $899,538,000 after buying an additional 383,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $568,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,441 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $325.28. 952,441 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,745,089. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $297.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $293.00. The company has a market cap of $82.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $329.60.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $313.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.00.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.