Aberdeen Group plc Buys 46,629 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,629 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.07% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $56,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,877,000. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% in the second quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% during the second quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $812,000. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 735,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AJG. Truist Financial set a $271.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE AJG opened at $208.22 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $195.00 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $249.37 and its 200 day moving average is $270.59.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.28%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at $24,715,254.85. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.