Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock Position Decreased by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 174 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,450,000 after buying an additional 14,860 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 161,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,756,000 after purchasing an additional 37,070 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,297,000. Marsico Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 316.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marsico Capital Management LLC now owns 11,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 8,701 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at $30,578,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.14.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $294.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $288.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.11. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $218.63 and a twelve month high of $301.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $64.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.12, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. The trade was a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.