Vinva Investment Management Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 506 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 13,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,755,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 35,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,118,000 after buying an additional 4,136 shares during the last quarter. South Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 44,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,642,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $14,937,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % 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. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of AJG opened at $326.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $345.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $315.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $298.94. The firm has a market cap of $83.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.08 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

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.