Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Sells 853 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 853 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $8,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $334.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $85.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.36 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $316.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $345.43.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

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

In related news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.93.

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