Norges Bank Takes $1.93 Billion Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJGFree Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,438,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,062,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 668.2% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $201.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.94. The company has a market cap of $51.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.54. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $190.75 and a 1 year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJGGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.26 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

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

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.00.

Read Our Latest Analysis on AJG

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

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