Values First Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Values First Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 36.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 551 shares during the quarter. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $217,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 1,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.9% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $246.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $249.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Raymond James cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $250.06. 960,704 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 888,885. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $186.88 and a 52 week high of $256.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $242.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $54.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.32, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 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.