ING Groep NV Boosts Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $325.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $297.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $293.33. 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. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $329.60.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.