Zions Bancorporation N.A. Increases Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 863.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after purchasing an additional 7,867 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,391,000. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $336.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.62 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $319.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $300.37. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.20.

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