Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 649,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,047 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $184,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,422,435,000 after buying an additional 3,851,661 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $719,489,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,327,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910,471 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $801,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $342.12 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $244.60 and a 52-week high of $350.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $330.80 and a 200 day moving average of $311.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $87.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.47 and a beta of 0.78.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.57.

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.