Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Purchases 692 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth about $317,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 673,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,640,000 after purchasing an additional 64,864 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 24,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,425,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $290.58 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $291.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $286.33. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $227.08 and a 12-month high of $316.72. The firm has a market cap of $72.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.35 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.