Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 5,008,248 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,008,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,591,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,054,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $336.56 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $345.43. The stock has a market cap of $85.72 billion, a PE ratio of 51.62 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $319.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.37.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued 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 return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. On average, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid 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 was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AJG shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.20.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value 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. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % 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 three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.