DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 8,719 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,719 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $12,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of 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. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $340.59 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $321.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.96. The firm has a market cap of $87.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.24 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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