Amalgamated Bank Increases Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,274 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $13,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 approximately $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $332.06 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $299.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $294.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.93 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $332.69. 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 quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 36.81%.

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.