Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Grows Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 13,233.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,700 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises approximately 2.8% of Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $11,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after buying an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,513,199,000 after purchasing an additional 47,656 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,541,044,000 after purchasing an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after purchasing an additional 383,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,029,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $576,004,000 after buying an additional 184,960 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE AJG opened at $325.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $312.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $298.11. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $345.43. The company has a market capitalization of $82.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.90 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

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.