Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Grows Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,940 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises about 2.2% of Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $28,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,237,000 after purchasing an additional 618,362 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after buying an additional 580,134 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $124,174,000 after buying an additional 430,917 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 431.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 323,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,130,000 after purchasing an additional 262,987 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $299.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.96 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $291.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.38. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $227.43 and a fifty-two week high of $316.72.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

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.