Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lowered its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 37.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,912 shares during the quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 30,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,563,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 58.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after acquiring an additional 7,867 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth about $243,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.6% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 47,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,481,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $338.10 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.81. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $345.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.11 billion, a PE ratio of 51.86 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 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 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $310.43.

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