Wayfinding Financial LLC Acquires New Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $355,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG opened at $334.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.36 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $316.04 and a 200 day moving average of $299.19. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $345.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped 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 note on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.93.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.