Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $2.03 Million Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 price objective (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned 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 target price of $255.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $238.72. 545,286 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 839,971. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.16 billion, a PE ratio of 48.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $198.52 and a 52 week high of $256.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $243.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.01.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was 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 owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.