OneAscent Financial Services LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value 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 $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $344.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $88.08 billion, a PE ratio of 52.83 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $346.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $324.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.97.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.