Bath Savings Trust Co Raises Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,814 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after purchasing an additional 685,278 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,743,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,439,207,000 after purchasing an additional 117,646 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth about $1,536,230,000. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,464,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,097,000 after purchasing an additional 128,071 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $762,473,000 after acquiring an additional 94,940 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $252.86 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $236.34 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $259.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.32. The stock has a market cap of $64.94 billion, a PE ratio of 37.80 and a beta of 0.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The company’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.86%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total value of $313,425.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,344,571.98. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.00, for a total transaction of $1,566,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 50,668 shares in the company, valued at $13,224,348. This trade represents a 10.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,250 shares of company stock worth $4,275,745. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.29.

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