KBC Group NV grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 36.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 198,368 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 53,106 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.09% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $55,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,763,177,000 after buying an additional 727,325 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,832,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,208,208,000 after purchasing an additional 398,350 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,640,938 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $425,511,000 after purchasing an additional 42,841 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,611,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $402,206,000 after buying an additional 38,886 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,410,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $365,718,000 after buying an additional 50,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages have recently commented on AJG. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $289.14.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on AJG
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance
Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $294.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 947,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 846,019. The firm has a market cap of $64.63 billion, a PE ratio of 56.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $288.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $301.04.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,625,146.84. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.
About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
(
Free Report)
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.
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