Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) CFO Douglas Howell Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) CFO Douglas Howell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE AJG opened at $262.79 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $236.34 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $67.48 billion, a PE ratio of 39.28 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $286.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). The firm 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 was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $329.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.22.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.