Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,054,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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. Insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG opened at $344.07 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $350.70. The stock has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.77 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $325.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.27. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.88%.

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.