KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 82,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,506,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $568,619,000 after buying an additional 1,117,441 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,087,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 307.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 742,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,829,000 after purchasing an additional 560,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burkehill Global Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,118,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AJG. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $310.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $332.02 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.92 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $316.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $299.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

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