Settian Capital LP Sells 1,000 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Settian Capital LP lessened its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 33.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up approximately 0.4% of Settian Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Settian Capital LP’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 546.9% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 54,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,438,000 after purchasing an additional 45,981 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 139,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,997 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 13,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,755,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 35,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,118,000 after purchasing an additional 4,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 44,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,642,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.0 %

AJG opened at $326.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.08 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $315.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $298.94. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $345.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AJG. Barclays increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.93.

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.