Christopher E. Mead Sells 2,900 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This 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.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.3 %

AJG stock traded up $3.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $316.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,481,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,930,408. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $316.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.49 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.53 earnings per share 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. 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 presently 36.81%.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AJG. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. W Advisors LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $940,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covenant Partners LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the third quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 5,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

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.