FineMark National Bank & Trust Buys 788 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

FineMark National Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $13,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,513,199,000 after acquiring an additional 47,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,541,044,000 after acquiring an additional 79,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,029,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,004,000 after purchasing an additional 184,960 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $338.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.86 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $318.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $299.81. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AJG. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial raised 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, Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.43.

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

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.