ARS Investment Partners LLC Purchases 976 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

ARS Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for about 2.2% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $23,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $210,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 63,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 439.7% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 7,414 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 200,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,012,000 after purchasing an additional 6,003 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at $208,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $295.22 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $227.08 and a fifty-two week high of $316.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $73.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.23 and a beta of 0.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.