Whipplewood Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. W Advisors LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% during the third 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 period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 5,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,635,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AJG opened at $333.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $84.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.10 and a beta of 0.77. 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 $334.69. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.66.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.