Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 37.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,912 shares during the period. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,422,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $568,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,441 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $163,087,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 307.2% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 742,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,829,000 after buying an additional 560,325 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of AJG opened at $338.10 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $318.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.81. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $345.43. 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 market cap of $86.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.86 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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 dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.