Prudential Financial Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 133,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,898 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $37,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Corebridge Financial Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 69,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,747,000 after buying an additional 5,911 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 69,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,422,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 182,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,794,000 after purchasing an additional 53,697 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.20.

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

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $337.55 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $85.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.77 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $300.11. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 payout ratio is 39.88%.

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