Empowered Funds LLC Has $2.59 Million Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,129 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,513,199,000 after acquiring an additional 47,656 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 79,429 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings 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 valued at $899,538,000 after acquiring an additional 383,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,330,703 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $374,408,000 after acquiring an additional 31,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were 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 $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of 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 research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded down $6.97 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $321.59. The stock had a trading volume of 2,079,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,682,793. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $80.33 billion, a PE ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $329.60. The company's 50 day moving average is $293.94 and its 200-day moving average is $292.01.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. 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 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

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.