Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 122,781 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 59.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 329,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 122,781 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $71,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% in the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,398,000 after buying an additional 19,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth $412,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $253.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $227.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.89. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $315.00. The company has a market capitalization of $65.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $276.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Mizuho upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.35.

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.