DnB Asset Management AS Increases Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,719 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $12,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth $243,000. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 35.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,330,000 after purchasing an additional 2,186 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 43,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,162,000 after buying an additional 4,212 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 17,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,990,000 after buying an additional 2,819 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial increased 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $340.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $87.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.24 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $321.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $300.96. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $345.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 39.88%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.