Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 3,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at $17,748,000. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.6% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,712,707.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on 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. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 price target (down previously 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 issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $237.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $51.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.68. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $198.52 and a twelve month high of $256.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $244.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $238.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 54.05%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.