Tranquility Partners LLC Invests $339,000 in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Tranquility Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,237,000 after acquiring an additional 618,362 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,174,000 after purchasing an additional 430,917 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,538,000 after buying an additional 383,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 431.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 323,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,130,000 after buying an additional 262,987 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $324.79 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $325.10. 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 company has a market cap of $81.13 billion, a PE ratio of 49.81 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

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.