Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,539 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,487 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $31,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,541,044,000 after buying an additional 79,429 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,330,703 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $374,408,000 after buying an additional 31,181 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG traded up $4.07 on Thursday, hitting $328.68. 1,210,917 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,841,266. The firm has a market cap of $82.10 billion, a PE ratio of 50.41 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $328.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $292.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company 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 a boost 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 36.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AJG. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $313.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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.