Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Purchased by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 48,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,814 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $13,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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 raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $333.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $84.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.10 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $334.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.66.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s 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.