Professional Advisory Services Inc. Has $21.65 Million Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Professional Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,300 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up about 2.8% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $21,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after purchasing an additional 685,278 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,743,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,439,207,000 after buying an additional 117,646 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,536,230,000. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,464,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $783,097,000 after buying an additional 128,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $762,473,000 after acquiring an additional 94,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Piper Sandler lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $276.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $328.00 to $311.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG opened at $258.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $236.34 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $66.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.61 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $254.11 and its 200-day moving average is $280.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total transaction of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. The trade was a 18.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch acquired 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,341,724.88. This represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.