Avanza Fonder AB Buys New Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 20,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,678,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. W Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Covenant Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the third quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 5,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Disciplined Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 5,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,635,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $295.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.18 and a beta of 0.76. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $227.08 and a 1 year high of $316.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $291.88 and a 200-day moving average of $286.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

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.