Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Angeles Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth about $238,000. Old North State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $287,000. Vestor Capital LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 1,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 84,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,825,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.4% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $341.70 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.63. The stock has a market cap of $87.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.41 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $343.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of 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 report on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on 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. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.00.

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.