Carderock Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,749,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $1,925,062,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,887,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,523,636,000 after buying an additional 3,253,498 shares during the last quarter. Gtcr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $514,112,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $269,394,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $299.00 to $296.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $248.43 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $190.75 and a 1 year high of $313.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.68. The company has a market capitalization of $63.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.20, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.33 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.26 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.43%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.