LPL Financial LLC Buys 53,697 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 41.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 182,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 53,697 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $51,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after buying an additional 7,867 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at $3,391,000. Avestar Capital LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 230,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,897,000 after purchasing an additional 5,707 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.20.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AJG opened at $341.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.42 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $345.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $320.82 and a 200 day moving average of $300.66.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.