Savant Capital LLC Purchases 408 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 408 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $324.79 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $81.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.81 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $325.10.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.