West Oak Capital LLC Purchases 214 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

West Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 28.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 948.0% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 6,039 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.1% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 42.2% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 3,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.7% during the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.2% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 12,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE AJG traded up $0.59 on Friday, reaching $286.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,074,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,612,124. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $227.08 and a twelve month high of $316.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $71.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.49, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $291.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.39.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.