Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stake Lessened by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 30.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,626 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% in the second quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at $29,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.0 %

AJG stock opened at $312.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $68.47 billion, a PE ratio of 59.45, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $218.63 and a 1 year high of $316.72. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 45.71%.

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

In related news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at $9,853,685.40. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.