Eastern Bank Purchases New Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $217,000. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 70.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 5,308 shares in the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $212,000. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,654,772.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $287.35 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.76. The company has a market cap of $62.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $218.63 and a 52 week high of $301.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.58%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.