Bath Savings Trust Co Buys 4,170 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Bath Savings Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,170 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. accounts for approximately 0.9% of Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $215.99 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $195.00 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $55.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.53%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.