Synovus Financial Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Synovus Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 48.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,878 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $343.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $350.70. The firm has a market cap of $87.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $329.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $304.79.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.