T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 123.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,887,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,253,498 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for 1.0% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,523,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. WealthPoint Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $297,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,733,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $448,527,000 after acquiring an additional 85,545 shares in the last quarter. Evansbrook LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $360,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 97,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,936,000 after acquiring an additional 54,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 155,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,436,000 after purchasing an additional 54,678 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.8%

AJG opened at $214.45 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $327.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a PE ratio of 34.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $210.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.98.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Citigroup raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.12.

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.