Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $446,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $495,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 79,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,804,000 after purchasing an additional 6,336 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $311,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $704,000. Finally, K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,642,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 price target (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.31.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total value of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 96,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,666,597.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $234.71 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $243.98 and a 200-day moving average of $239.00. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $198.52 and a 1-year high of $256.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $51.24 billion, a PE ratio of 47.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.