Candriam S.C.A. Sells 1,756 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Candriam S.C.A. cut its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,756 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $568,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,441 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $163,087,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,174,000 after acquiring an additional 430,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,538,000 after acquiring an additional 383,130 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price 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. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $323.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $307.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $296.87. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $345.43. 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 firm has a market cap of $82.47 billion, a PE ratio of 49.66 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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