Larson Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 284.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 196 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,727,000. Sigma Planning Corp bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,677,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,494,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robbins Farley bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,518,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction 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 $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction of $308,026.40. Following the completion of 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 sold a total of 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $236.81 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $198.52 and a 12 month high of $256.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $51.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.34, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

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.