Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 121 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 726,485 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,431,788,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,209,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,345,000 after purchasing an additional 34,999 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,000,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,139,872,000 after purchasing an additional 90,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,609,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $880,442,000 after purchasing an additional 74,974 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 322,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,712,707.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised 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 note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $231.46 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.70. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $198.52 and a one year high of $256.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.53 billion, a PE ratio of 52.13, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 9.63%. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

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.