Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $31.38 Million Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,487 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $31,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 23,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,663,000 after buying an additional 1,857 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 288.4% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $322.42 on Monday. 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. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $323.55. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $292.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.38. The company has a market capitalization of $80.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.45 and a beta of 0.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.