Blair William & Co. IL Lowers Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,228 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $21,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $1,308,316,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,210.9% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,383,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,117,000 after buying an additional 1,277,945 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,433,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $997,053,000 after buying an additional 884,394 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,323,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,321,493,000 after acquiring an additional 672,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Investment Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 476.2% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. now owns 484,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,965,000 after acquiring an additional 400,453 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AJG. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $274.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $263.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,395 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total transaction of $862,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,731,756. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,395 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $862,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,314 shares in the company, valued at $9,731,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total value of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 93,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,693,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,165 shares of company stock valued at $13,629,049 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded down $0.26 on Friday, reaching $270.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 585,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 848,032. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $213.04 and a 52-week high of $274.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.71, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $258.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.