Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Position Boosted by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 62.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors' holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AJG. FMR LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 580,134 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,513,199,000 after buying an additional 47,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,541,044,000 after buying an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,029,256 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $576,004,000 after buying an additional 184,960 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE AJG traded up $8.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $334.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,497,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,703,941. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $345.43. The company has a market capitalization of $85.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.36 and a beta of 0.75. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $315.04 and its 200 day moving average is $298.94.

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 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 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. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AJG. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.