Swiss National Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 673,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $151,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at $76,712,707.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at $76,712,707.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 price target (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $238.62 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $243.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.00. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $198.52 and a 1 year high of $256.10. The company has a market capitalization of $52.14 billion, a PE ratio of 48.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company’s revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.