National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,304 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,567 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.05% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $35,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 47,656 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $1,541,044,000 after purchasing an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,421,591,000. 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of AJG stock traded down $9.96 during trading on Monday, hitting $309.29. 1,615,106 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,683,578. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $326.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.44 and a beta of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $350.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is 39.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.