AGF Management Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 212.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,764 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 36.3% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.8 %

AJG stock opened at $325.35 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $345.43. The business’s 50-day moving average is $312.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $298.11. 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 company has a market cap of $82.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.90 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial increased their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.93.

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.