Axiom Investors LLC DE Has $164.44 Million Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 78.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 579,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 254,038 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for approximately 1.2% of Axiom Investors LLC DE’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Axiom Investors LLC DE’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $164,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $801,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,283 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 37,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,561,000 after buying an additional 1,865 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,011,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,036,000 after buying an additional 16,173 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $803,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 160,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,656,000 after acquiring an additional 52,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $340.59 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $301.01. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $345.43. The company has a market cap of $87.10 billion, a PE ratio of 52.24 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.20.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.