Renaissance Investment Group LLC Grows Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Renaissance Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for approximately 2.1% of Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ballew Advisors Inc boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Ballew Advisors Inc now owns 20,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,940,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 105.8% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,926,000 after acquiring an additional 3,489 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $476,000. Verity & Verity LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 41,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AJG. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $295.22 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $291.99 and a 200 day moving average of $286.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.23 and a beta of 0.76. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $227.08 and a fifty-two week high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $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. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.