Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Purchased by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 145,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,418 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $44,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 781,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,711,000 after buying an additional 201,900 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 669.8% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 86,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,876,000 after buying an additional 75,295 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 110.3% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 7,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,531,000 after buying an additional 3,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $262.79 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $254.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $286.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.28 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $236.34 and a 52-week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.86%.

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

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares in the company, valued at $20,284,995. This represents a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. This trade represents a 18.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AJG shares. Mizuho started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, December 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $276.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $328.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $272.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $302.22.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.