Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $103,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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 lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $325.85 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $294.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $329.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $81.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.98 and a beta of 0.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

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.