Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD Acquires 537 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 9.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AJG. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% in the second quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,900 shares of company stock worth $11,136,680. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $284.26. The stock had a trading volume of 194,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 843,524. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.11 billion, a PE ratio of 57.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $289.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.33. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $301.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.