Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) VP Christopher Mead Sells 4,000 Shares

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) VP Christopher Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $217.87 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $56.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $195.00 and a 52 week high of $351.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $262.54.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $292.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $271.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore 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 research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.76.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,123,534,000 after buying an additional 217,136 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,264,359,000 after acquiring an additional 830,252 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,953,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,834,682,000 after purchasing an additional 62,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $1,925,062,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.