Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 202 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 58.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after purchasing an additional 7,867 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth $243,000. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 43.8% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at about $3,391,000. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.20.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % 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, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $336.56 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $85.72 billion, a PE ratio of 51.62 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $319.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $300.37. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.