Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Bought by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 189,201 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,793 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $53,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AJG. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.8 %

AJG stock traded down $9.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $322.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,164,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,272,524. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $232.27 and a 1-year high of $350.70. The company has a market capitalization of $82.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.44 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $330.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.17.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.