Key Financial Inc Boosts Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Key Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 29.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Creative Planning boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,785,000 after purchasing an additional 2,537 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.5% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 84.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,874,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 37.7% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 65,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,384,000 after acquiring an additional 17,894 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $325.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.40 billion, a PE ratio of 49.98 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $294.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $329.60.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.