Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,163 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $124,174,000 after buying an additional 430,917 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 29,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,350,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG traded up $1.47 on Wednesday, hitting $290.58. 1,869,214 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,304,971. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The business's fifty day moving average is $291.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $286.33. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $227.08 and a 12 month high of $316.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.35, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $292.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $304.07.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,626,666.10. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. The trade was a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.