Harbor Advisors LLC Buys 1,875 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Harbor Advisors LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 28.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $332.02 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $316.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $299.50. 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 company has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.92 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.