Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Purchased by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 27.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% during 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. FMR LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,174,000 after acquiring an additional 430,917 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after acquiring an additional 383,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 33,892.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 269,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,418,000 after acquiring an additional 268,428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the sale, 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 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 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.2 %

AJG opened at $341.70 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $304.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $295.63. The company has a market cap of $87.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.41 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $343.21.

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, 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 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on 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. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

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