Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 364,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,504 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $103,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE AJG opened at $325.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.90 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $345.43. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $312.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $298.17.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AJG. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.