Premier Fund Managers Ltd Has $27.63 Million Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Premier Fund Managers Ltd trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 105,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,258 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises approximately 1.6% of Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $27,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,123,534,000 after purchasing an additional 217,136 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,783,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,649,477,000 after purchasing an additional 101,298 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,891,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,373,403,000 after purchasing an additional 147,587 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,228,156,000 after purchasing an additional 45,256 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on AJG shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $197.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $50.72 billion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $216.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $195.00 and a twelve month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.31%.

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 value of $908,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company 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.