United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Has $16.49 Million Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 25.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,554 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $16,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth 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 institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $5.44 during trading on Monday, reaching $323.78. 111,086 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,260,717. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $232.27 and a twelve month high of $350.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $330.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $306.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.66 and a beta of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AJG. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Truist Financial raised their target price on 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. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.27.

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.