Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Acquires 417 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE AJG opened at $321.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $80.33 billion, a PE ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $329.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $293.45 and a 200-day moving average of $291.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.