Moody National Bank Trust Division Decreases Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Moody National Bank Trust Division lessened its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 431 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,893,000 after buying an additional 11,752 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in 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 worth $30,450,000 after purchasing an additional 14,860 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,237,000 after buying an additional 618,362 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth $749,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,211,438. The trade was a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,626,666.10. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.2 %

AJG traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $287.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 795,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,349,361. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $291.69 and its 200-day moving average is $285.94. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $227.08 and a 1 year high of $316.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.79, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.