Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,913,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 178,687 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.77% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $536,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,851,661 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,513,199,000 after purchasing an additional 47,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,541,044,000 after buying an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,029,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $576,004,000 after buying an additional 184,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $568,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,441 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $336.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $85.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.62 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $345.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $319.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $300.37.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

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.