Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Acquired by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,217 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AJG. W Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% in the third quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 5,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,499,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Disciplined Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 5,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,635,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.2 %

AJG traded up $0.59 on Friday, reaching $286.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,074,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,612,124. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $227.08 and a 1 year high of $316.72. The business's 50 day moving average is $291.69 and its 200 day moving average is $285.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $71.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $313.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $304.07.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.