Cambridge Trust Co. Raises Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Cambridge Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 132.5% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,739,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 2,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $585,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 36,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,316,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 price objective (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.23.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction of $308,026.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $236.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $198.52 and a fifty-two week high of $256.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.64 billion, a PE ratio of 53.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.