Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Purchased by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,601 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $37,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $339,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $2,085,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 25,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.1 %

AJG opened at $321.59 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $293.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.61. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $329.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $80.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AJG. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.