Diametric Capital LP Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Diametric Capital LP bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the 4th 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. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $801,115,000 after buying an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $568,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,441 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 282.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 938,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,368,000 after purchasing an additional 693,006 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $343.70 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $355.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.90 billion, a PE ratio of 52.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $323.67 and its 200-day moving average is $301.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued 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 net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. 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 payout ratio is 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have 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. 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.