Wellington Management Group LLP Increases Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 162.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,745,283 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $801,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,422,435,000 after buying an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,513,199,000 after acquiring an additional 47,656 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,541,044,000 after purchasing an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $1,421,591,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,029,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,004,000 after purchasing an additional 184,960 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value 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. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade 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 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $345.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $350.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $322.73 and a 200-day moving average of $301.35. The company has a market capitalization of $88.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.92 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Equities analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective on the stock. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

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