Avanza Fonder AB Acquires Shares of 20,003 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 20,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,678,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. W Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% in the third quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Covenant Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 5,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 5,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,635,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AJG. Barclays upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $292.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two 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 MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.2 %

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $295.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,261,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,133,369. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $73.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.23 and a beta of 0.76. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $227.08 and a one year high of $316.72. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $291.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.