Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Sells 272 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lessened its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 272 shares during the quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $343.70 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $355.16. The company has a market capitalization of $87.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $323.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $301.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. 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 dividend yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

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