Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 126.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,117,441 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.80% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $568,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $321.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $329.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

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.