Ritholtz Wealth Management Cuts Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lessened its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 212 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,375,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 7,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after buying an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 58.3% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. now owns 141,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,069,000 after acquiring an additional 17,196 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the sale, 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.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $295.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $73.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.23 and a beta of 0.76. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $227.08 and a fifty-two week high of $316.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $291.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.07.

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.