Bristlecone Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 427 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises about 1.5% of Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $19,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,893,000 after buying an additional 11,752 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,450,000 after acquiring an additional 14,860 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,237,000 after acquiring an additional 618,362 shares during the period. Running Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 48,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,830,000 after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $322.42 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $323.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.54 billion, a PE ratio of 49.45 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $292.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.38.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 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. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.