HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Boosts Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,893,000 after purchasing an additional 11,752 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% during the 3rd 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 raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 48,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,830,000 after acquiring an additional 3,983 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 22,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of 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. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $345.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $322.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $301.35. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $350.53. The company has a market cap of $88.23 billion, a PE ratio of 52.92 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.