Bath Savings Trust Co Grows Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Bath Savings Trust Co raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 70.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,612 shares during the quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.7% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,450,000 after acquiring an additional 14,860 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,237,000 after purchasing an additional 618,362 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $749,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at approximately $22,538,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG traded up $4.83 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $281.25. 1,198,920 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,279,842. The stock has a market cap of $70.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $224.21 and a 12 month high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.