Soros Fund Management LLC Makes New $85.16 Million Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 300,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $85,155,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises approximately 1.3% of Soros Fund Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 890.8% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 122,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,744,000 after acquiring an additional 110,050 shares during the last quarter. 11 Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. 11 Capital Partners LP now owns 74,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,218,000 after buying an additional 16,150 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 125,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,588,000 after purchasing an additional 7,388 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 351,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,800,000 after purchasing an additional 31,352 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,355,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $668,552,000 after purchasing an additional 480,193 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE AJG opened at $323.73 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $232.27 and a one year high of $350.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $330.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $307.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $82.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.65 and a beta of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AJG. Barclays raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of 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 research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $315.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.