Thomasville National Bank Reduces Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Thomasville National Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 522 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up about 2.5% of Thomasville National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Thomasville National Bank owned about 0.06% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $30,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AJG. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 361,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,281,000 after buying an additional 28,359 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 112,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,206,000 after purchasing an additional 15,528 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 92,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $2,946,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total value of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 93,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,693,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total transaction of $2,181,530.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 36,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,560,583.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total value of $2,634,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 93,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,693,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 53,165 shares of company stock worth $13,629,049 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE AJG traded up $2.79 on Thursday, hitting $264.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 711,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 847,553. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $209.39 and a 52-week high of $264.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.89. The firm has a market cap of $57.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 price objective (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $260.58.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.