Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Purchased by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 38,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $10,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 219.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,043,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,660,000 after purchasing an additional 717,221 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,237,000 after acquiring an additional 618,362 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 383,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29,927.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 232,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,394,000 after acquiring an additional 231,638 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded 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 research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $315.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $69.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $218.63 and a 12 month high of $315.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $290.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $278.55.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

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.