Eastern Bank Boosts Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Eastern Bank grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1,737.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,642 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,536,230,000. Sands Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 453.3% during the second quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,121,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,934,000 after acquiring an additional 918,618 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 41,475.5% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 770,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,619,000 after acquiring an additional 768,541 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,954,625,000 after purchasing an additional 685,278 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,354,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $753,765,000 after purchasing an additional 503,205 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AJG. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $328.00 to $311.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $276.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.33.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at $24,715,254.85. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,472,271.97. This represents a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $256.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.92 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $253.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.92. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $236.34 and a one year high of $351.23. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

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.