Mizuho Markets Cayman LP Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Mizuho Markets Cayman LP acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 13,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,407,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,947 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% during the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 19,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $412,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $204.89 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.49. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $52.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.