FIL Ltd Purchases 5,965 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

FIL Ltd grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 858,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,965 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.34% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $243,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,422,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,779,248,000 after purchasing an additional 787,265 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $1,421,591,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $801,115,000 after buying an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $576,004,000 after buying an additional 184,960 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of AJG traded up $8.99 on Monday, reaching $343.01. The stock had a trading volume of 192,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,711. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $350.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.61 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $329.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $304.34.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid 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 of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.27.

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.