Schear Investment Advisers LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9% during the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Trust Co. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $235.50. 427,838 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 867,839. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average is $244.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.61. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $198.52 and a one year high of $256.10. The stock has a market cap of $51.41 billion, a PE ratio of 52.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.05%.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total transaction of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at $76,712,707.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total transaction of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.