Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Sells 159 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 32,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,260,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 58.1% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,652,000. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 2,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $325.28 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $82.85 billion, a PE ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $329.60.

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 research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

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.