West Oak Capital LLC Has $178,000 Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

West Oak Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total transaction of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 322,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 322,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded up $2.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $250.35. The stock had a trading volume of 199,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 876,725. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $242.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.56. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $186.88 and a twelve month high of $256.10. The firm has a market cap of $54.65 billion, a PE ratio of 55.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 54.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $249.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $246.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.