Renaissance Investment Group LLC Increases Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Renaissance Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,487 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises about 2.1% of Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 219.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,043,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,660,000 after buying an additional 717,221 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,237,000 after acquiring an additional 618,362 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,174,000 after purchasing an additional 430,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,538,000 after purchasing an additional 383,130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE AJG opened at $295.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.23 and a beta of 0.76. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $227.08 and a 52-week high of $316.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $291.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.85.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,211,438. The trade was a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.