Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,420,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,279 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up 2.8% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $403,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,893,000 after buying an additional 11,752 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the third 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. Running Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 48,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,830,000 after acquiring an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 22,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $340.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a PE ratio of 52.24 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $321.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.95. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (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 forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.