Norges Bank Makes New $1.42 Billion Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,008,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,591,000. Norges Bank owned about 2.00% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of 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. Truist Financial boosted their price target on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AJG opened at $336.56 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $319.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.62 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $345.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. On average, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.