Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,855 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $8,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $568,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,441 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,174,000 after acquiring an additional 430,917 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in 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, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 33,892.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 269,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,418,000 after acquiring an additional 268,428 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.3 %

AJG stock opened at $337.27 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $345.43. The business’s 50-day moving average is $305.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $85.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.73 and a beta of 0.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. As a group, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.