National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 125,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,567 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.05% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $35,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after buying an additional 3,851,661 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $801,115,000 after buying an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $568,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,441 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 282.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 938,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,368,000 after acquiring an additional 693,006 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $344.42 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 firm has a market cap of $88.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.83 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $324.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $301.97. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $346.95.

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 anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

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

In related news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value 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 $4,440,499.14. The trade was 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 worth $7,478,224 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.