Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 751,982 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 31.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,628,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 751,982 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $462,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, 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 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $321.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $329.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $293.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AJG. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.