Verity & Verity LLC Purchases 1,575 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 41,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $11,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 12,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,461,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,384 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $295.22. 1,261,458 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,133,369. 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 $73.75 billion, a PE ratio of 56.23 and a beta of 0.76. The company's 50 day moving average price is $291.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $286.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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