Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 479 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 324,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.13% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $92,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $8,422,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 47,656 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $1,541,044,000 after acquiring an additional 79,429 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $1,421,591,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% during the fourth 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. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $341.78 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $345.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $87.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.42 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $320.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.66.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.