Truist Financial Corp Decreases Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 135,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.05% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $38,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,513,199,000 after purchasing an additional 47,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,541,044,000 after purchasing an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after purchasing an additional 383,130 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $568,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,441 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE AJG opened at $325.85 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $329.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.40 billion, a PE ratio of 49.98 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $294.54 and its 200 day moving average is $292.26.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 39.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 note on Monday, November 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.