Park Avenue Securities LLC Boosts Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,163 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the third 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This represents 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 owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $288.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $291.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $286.33. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $227.08 and a 52-week high of $316.72. The firm has a market cap of $72.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.01, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.71%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.