Dearborn Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Dearborn Partners LLC cut its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 143,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,183 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up about 1.7% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC owned about 0.06% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $40,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Equitable Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at $214,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth about $255,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,683,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.3% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $321.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.34 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $345.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $308.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.20. 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 released its 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 net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Research analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AJG. 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. Truist Financial raised their price target on 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. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 sale, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.