Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 3,851,661 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.88% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $8,422,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $332.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $345.43. The company has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.92 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $316.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.