Welch & Forbes LLC Has $85.20 Million Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 300,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,617 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up approximately 1.1% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC owned about 0.12% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $85,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of 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 and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial increased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $340.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $307.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.62. The stock has a market cap of $86.64 billion, a PE ratio of 52.17 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS 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. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. 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 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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