Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lowered its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,137 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,558,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 177.4% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 5,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 33,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,567,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $239.16. The company had a trading volume of 531,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,029. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.00. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $198.52 and a 52-week high of $256.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $52.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.30, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The business’s revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.