Pitcairn Co. Acquires 159 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Pitcairn Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $586,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 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 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped 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 assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $318.97 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $81.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.92 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $326.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.45. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $350.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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 yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.88%.

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