Walter Bay Sells 15,850 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) General Counsel Walter Bay sold 15,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 79,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE AJG traded up $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $258.70. 1,138,901 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,606,693. The company has a market capitalization of $66.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $236.34 and a 12 month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AJG. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $293.00 target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Monday, December 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $276.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $328.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.22.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,954,625,000 after purchasing an additional 685,278 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,783,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,649,477,000 after acquiring an additional 101,298 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,891,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,373,403,000 after buying an additional 147,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew 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 buying an additional 45,256 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.