Brown Advisory Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,027,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 489,993 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $524,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AJG. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,924,000 after buying an additional 5,947 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% during the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,398,000 after buying an additional 19,325 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at $412,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $235.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $263.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $218.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $190.75 and a twelve month high of $327.34. The firm has a market cap of $56.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.31%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% 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.