Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 28,333 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 280,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,333 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $79,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.8% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,811,000 after buying an additional 2,048 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth $3,270,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 94.6% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at $447,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. 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. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.1 %

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $310.68 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $350.70. The company has a market cap of $79.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.65 and a beta of 0.64. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $327.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.02.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. 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 yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.88%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Corporate 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.