Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 137,932 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,415,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 137,932 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $6,354,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,308,316,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,210.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,383,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,945 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,433,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $997,053,000 after purchasing an additional 884,394 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,323,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,321,493,000 after purchasing an additional 672,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Investment Co. Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 476.2% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. now owns 484,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,965,000 after purchasing an additional 400,453 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $274.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $263.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $270.27. The stock had a trading volume of 599,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 820,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $259.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.89. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.04 and a fifty-two week high of $274.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.71, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.72.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 93,730 shares in the company, valued at $24,693,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 93,730 shares in the company, valued at $24,693,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,717 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total transaction of $2,240,269.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,485,587. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,165 shares of company stock worth $13,629,049. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.