Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 182 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. FMR LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,664,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,202,742,000 after buying an additional 726,485 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,209,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,345,000 after purchasing an additional 34,999 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,000,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,139,872,000 after purchasing an additional 90,842 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,610,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $583,249,000 after buying an additional 13,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,572,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $586,277,000 after acquiring an additional 88,861 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $4.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $243.01. 530,314 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 865,306. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $198.52 and a twelve month high of $256.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.32, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $243.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AJG. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 price target (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.31.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 in the company, valued at $516,269.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.