Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Cuts Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co decreased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 771 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,893,000 after buying an additional 11,752 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,237,000 after purchasing an additional 618,362 shares in the last quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 48,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,830,000 after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 22,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $341.78 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $345.43. The firm has a market cap of $87.40 billion, a PE ratio of 52.42 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $320.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick 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 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%. On average, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

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