ING Groep NV Raises Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

ING Groep NV lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% in 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 during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during 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. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $325.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $82.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $329.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $293.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.88%.

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