Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by Alley Investment Management Company LLC

Alley Investment Management Company LLC lowered its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 45.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,650 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,925,062,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,887,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,636,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253,498 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,361 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $269,394,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $227,887,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of AJG opened at $229.88 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $323.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $210.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $59.06 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.12.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.