Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Compass Ion Advisors LLC

Compass Ion Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 63.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,095 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,143,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 15,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at $4,815,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.1% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 59,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,384 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $326.50 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $315.04 and its 200-day moving average is $298.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $83.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.08 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.93.

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