OFI Invest Asset Management Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,513,199,000 after buying an additional 47,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during 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 buying an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after buying an additional 383,130 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 184,960 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $321.71 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $345.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $308.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $297.20. The company has a market cap of $81.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.34 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.93.

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