Schroder Investment Management Group Boosts Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 48.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 160,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 52,091 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $45,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE AJG opened at $345.01 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $350.53. 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 capitalization of $88.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.92 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $301.35.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.