MML Investors Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,441 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $53,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,851,661 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $719,489,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,327,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $801,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.27.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, 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 value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company'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 transaction of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $331.96. 961,110 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,267,388. 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 twelve month low of $232.27 and a twelve month high of $350.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $330.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $306.65. The stock has a market cap of $84.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.91 and a beta of 0.64.

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 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

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