V Square Quantitative Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.1 %

AJG stock opened at $321.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.33 billion, a PE ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $329.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.91.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 36.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

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.