Schear Investment Advisers LLC Buys 244 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 244 shares during the quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,893,000 after acquiring an additional 11,752 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,450,000 after purchasing an additional 14,860 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,237,000 after buying an additional 618,362 shares during the period. Running Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 48,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,830,000 after buying an additional 3,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 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. 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 report on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE AJG opened at $322.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.44 billion, a PE ratio of 49.39 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $292.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 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 $324.79.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.81%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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