Bank of Montreal Can Sells 73,991 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 22.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 252,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 73,991 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $70,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% in the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.64.

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

In other news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.2 %

AJG stock opened at $313.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $68.70 billion, a PE ratio of 59.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $218.63 and a 52 week high of $314.44. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $289.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.03.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.