Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,977,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,893,000 after purchasing an additional 11,752 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,237,000 after buying an additional 618,362 shares during the period. Running Oak Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 48,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,830,000 after buying an additional 3,983 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,092 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 22,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $340.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a PE ratio of 52.24 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $321.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $345.43.

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%. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AJG. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.