Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Mount Lucas Management LP

Mount Lucas Management LP decreased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 284 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Portside Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.6% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at $214,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth about $255,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,683,000 after buying an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 4.7 %

AJG stock opened at $323.81 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $345.43. The business’s 50-day moving average is $307.89 and its 200 day moving average is $296.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $82.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.66 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued 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 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

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.