Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $19.68 Million Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 19.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,920 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $19,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,947 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% during the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 19,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at about $412,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $252.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $64.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.87, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $319.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $212.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.84.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.23 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

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

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.12.

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.