Harbor Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Harbor Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% in the third 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. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 36,168.9% in the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 357,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,593,000 after purchasing an additional 356,987 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7,923.4% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 298,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,122,000 after acquiring an additional 295,146 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,289,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,879,000 after acquiring an additional 271,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 432.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 260,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,415,000 after acquiring an additional 211,716 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total transaction of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at $76,712,707.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total transaction of $2,925,233.85. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,712,707.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG traded up $0.35 on Tuesday, reaching $237.87. The stock had a trading volume of 542,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 868,982. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $198.52 and a 12-month high of $256.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $244.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.91. The stock has a market cap of $51.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were 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 of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 54.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AJG. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 price target (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. TD Cowen increased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.23.

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.