Advisors Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,779,248,000 after acquiring an additional 787,265 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,421,591,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $801,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $719,489,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $335.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $85.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.41 and a beta of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $350.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $329.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $305.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $315.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.