Truist Financial Corp Sells 2,600 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 135,546 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,600 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $38,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $568,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,441 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $899,538,000 after buying an additional 383,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 431.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 323,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,130,000 after buying an additional 262,987 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $325.28. 952,441 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,745,089. The stock has a market cap of $82.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $329.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Equities analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

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