Harbor Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,375 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,875 shares during the period. Harbor Advisors LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted 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 valued at $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased 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 acquiring an additional 47,656 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,541,044,000 after purchasing an additional 79,429 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 184,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $568,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,441 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on 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 began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $313.20.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.5 %
AJG stock traded up $5.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $341.78. 1,330,640 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,152,981. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $319.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.40 billion, a PE ratio of 52.42 and a beta of 0.75. 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 one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $345.43.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.
About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
(
Free Report)
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.
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