WINTON GROUP Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% in the third quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial raised 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

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

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $336.56 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $345.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $319.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.37. 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 company has a market cap of $85.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.62 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 39.88%.

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.