Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Bought by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,144 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, December 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $249.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $289.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $216.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $195.00 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The company has a market capitalization of $55.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $246.39 and a 200 day moving average of $268.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 42.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares in the company, valued at $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,472,271.97. This trade represents a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,850 shares of company stock worth $6,364,440. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.