Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $403.11 Million Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,420,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,279 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up about 2.8% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned about 0.57% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $403,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $568,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,441 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $163,087,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 307.2% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 742,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $210,829,000 after buying an additional 560,325 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE AJG opened at $340.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.24 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $345.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $321.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.95.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Equities research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, 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 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.20.

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.