Insider Selling: Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) VP Sells 7,510 Shares of Stock

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $332.02 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $316.96 and a 200-day moving average of $299.46. The stock has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.92 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,422,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after buying an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,067,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,857,737,000 after acquiring an additional 305,876 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,513,199,000 after acquiring an additional 47,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,327,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,471 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $310.43.

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.