Eastern Bank Has $5.74 Million Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 80.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,861 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth about $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 65,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,398,000 after buying an additional 6,090 shares during the last quarter. Cincinnati Financial Corp bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter worth $42,824,000. Finally, Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 241.4% in the third quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 49,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,332,000 after acquiring an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Piper Sandler lowered their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.7%

AJG opened at $206.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $53.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.67. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $225.18 and its 200-day moving average is $254.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $195.00 and a 1-year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.53%.

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.