Gabelli Funds LLC Has $832,000 Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 84.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,709 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 65,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,398,000 after acquiring an additional 6,090 shares in the last quarter. Cincinnati Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,824,000. Finally, Factory Mutual Insurance Co. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 241.4% in the 3rd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 49,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,332,000 after acquiring an additional 35,000 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $204.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $211.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.49. The company has a market cap of $52.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.54. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.