Xponance Inc. Sells 3,606 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Xponance Inc. reduced its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,606 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $11,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $908,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $292.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $226.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $281.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG opened at $227.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $243.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.58 billion, a PE ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.66. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $195.00 and a 52-week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The company had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,715,254.85. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,850 shares of company stock valued at $6,364,440. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.