K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Purchases New Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. FMR LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,664,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,202,742,000 after purchasing an additional 726,485 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 36,168.9% during the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 357,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,593,000 after acquiring an additional 356,987 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7,923.4% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 298,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,122,000 after purchasing an additional 295,146 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,289,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,879,000 after purchasing an additional 271,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 432.5% during the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 260,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,415,000 after purchasing an additional 211,716 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock traded down $2.89 on Friday, reaching $234.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,404,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 873,834. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $198.52 and a 1 year high of $256.10. The stock has a market cap of $51.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $238.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 9.63%. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.05%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total value of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 96,709 shares in the company, valued at $24,666,597.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total transaction of $3,825,900.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 96,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,666,597.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.