Sit Investment Associates Inc. Sells 619 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. cut its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 619 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AJG. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $318.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $81.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.92 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $326.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.45. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $350.70. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

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.