Aviva PLC Acquires 37,196 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Aviva PLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 391,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,196 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned about 0.16% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $111,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 7.4 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $318.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $81.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.92 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $350.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $326.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $302.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released 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 net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS 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 paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is currently 39.88%.

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.