82,810 Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Bought by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 82,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $23,506,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 47,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $568,619,000 after buying an additional 1,117,441 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE AJG traded up $5.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $341.78. 1,330,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,151,871. The company has a market cap 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 current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $345.43. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $319.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $300.37.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost 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 yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.