Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Buys 1,593 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 104.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,593 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Truist Financial upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, 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 through this link. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $324.25 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.00 billion, a PE ratio of 49.73 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $324.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 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 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 anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.