LPL Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 41.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 182,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 53,697 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $51,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 58.2% during the third 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 purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at $243,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth $3,391,000. Avestar Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 230,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,897,000 after purchasing an additional 5,707 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $341.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $345.43. The stock has a market cap of $87.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.42 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $320.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.66.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost 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 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on AJG shares. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.