Altshuler Shaham Ltd Takes $68,000 Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,664,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,202,742,000 after purchasing an additional 726,485 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,209,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,345,000 after buying an additional 34,999 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,000,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,139,872,000 after buying an additional 90,842 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,610,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $583,249,000 after purchasing an additional 13,208 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,572,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $586,277,000 after acquiring an additional 88,861 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 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $2.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $247.56. 759,114 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 859,498. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $198.52 and a twelve month high of $256.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $54.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $243.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.37.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.03 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors 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 yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial reissued 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. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen increased 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 report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total value of $3,825,900.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 96,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,666,597.54. The sale 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 that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.