Nelson Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Nelson Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. LGL Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 99.6% during the fourth quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 48,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,730,000 after buying an additional 5,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,455,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,074,000 after acquiring an additional 47,585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AJG. Barclays lifted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price 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, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $332.06 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $332.69. 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 stock has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.93 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $299.78 and a 200-day moving average of $294.16.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.81%.

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.