Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stake Raised by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after buying an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $2,513,199,000 after acquiring an additional 47,656 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 79,429 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 383,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $568,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AJG. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

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

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $325.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $329.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $297.95 and its 200-day moving average is $293.41. The firm has a market cap of $82.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.