Whipplewood Advisors LLC Invests $244,000 in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. W Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 5,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,635,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $333.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $84.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.10 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $334.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $301.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $294.66. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 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 $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

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