CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Purchases 1,609 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,609 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $65,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $329.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.50 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $232.27 and a one year high of $350.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $330.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report 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 report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently 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.