Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Acquires 14,390 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,390 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $30,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $325.37 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $328.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.90 and a beta of 0.64. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.33.

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.