Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. Invests $2.09 Million in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,085,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 1.9% of Littlejohn Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,237,000 after purchasing an additional 618,362 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after buying an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,174,000 after acquiring an additional 430,917 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after acquiring an additional 383,130 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 431.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 323,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,130,000 after purchasing an additional 262,987 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $328.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.41 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $292.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.35. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $328.92.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. Equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

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

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.