Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Buys 10,100 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 61,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,100 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $17,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings 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. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following the sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $325.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $329.60. The stock has a market cap of $82.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $297.95 and its 200 day moving average is $293.41.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio 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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.