Ridgeline Wealth LLC Invests $368,000 in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Ridgeline Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $368,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 22,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,169,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 87.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% during 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. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at about $3,764,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG traded down $3.89 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $276.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,678,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,655,972. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.21. The firm has a market cap of $69.07 billion, a PE ratio of 52.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $224.21 and a one year high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.57.

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.