Legato Capital Management LLC Has $1.66 Million Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Legato Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 42.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,353 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,785,000 after acquiring an additional 2,537 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 2,969 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Terra Nova Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 10,113 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,846,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock 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 raised their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG traded down $6.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $321.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,079,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,682,793. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $293.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.91. The firm has a market cap of $80.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $329.60.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. Equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.