Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 561,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,544 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.22% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $159,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing 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 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of 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 target price on 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. Two investment 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $322.42 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $291.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.91. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $323.55. The stock has a market cap of $80.54 billion, a PE ratio of 49.45 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its 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%. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.53 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.81%.

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