Capital International Inc. CA Grows Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Capital International Inc. CA raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 26.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,031 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $31,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,422,435,000 after buying an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $719,489,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,327,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $801,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,283 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE AJG opened at $329.29 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $232.27 and a one year high of $350.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $330.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.50 and a beta of 0.64. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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. This is a boost 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 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. 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 note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $315.27.

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.