Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Bought by HBK Sorce Advisory LLC

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 32,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,169,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 705,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,143,000 after acquiring an additional 56,600 shares during the period. Burkehill Global Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $156,118,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $493,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 18,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,192,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $325.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $312.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.17. The company has a market capitalization of $82.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.90 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $345.43.

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 (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 anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value 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 represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.93.

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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.