Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 69,173 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 29.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 303,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 69,173 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $94,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $908,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 32,650 shares of company stock valued at $8,137,686 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $217.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $56.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $195.00 and a one year high of $351.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $238.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.54.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore reduced their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $226.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.