National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,567 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $35,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought 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. in 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 Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $344.42 on Thursday. 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 $346.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $324.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $301.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.08 billion, a PE ratio of 52.83 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.