Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 34.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 196,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 104,393 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $55,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 863.1% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 4,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 46,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,304,000 after buying an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 892,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $253,395,000 after buying an additional 92,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corebridge Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 69,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,747,000 after acquiring an additional 5,911 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $337.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $318.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.11. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $345.43. The stock has a market cap of $85.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.77 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 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%. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.