PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,384 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $16,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% in the second quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,853,685.40. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.5 %

AJG opened at $303.27 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $218.63 and a twelve month high of $303.67. The company has a market cap of $66.54 billion, a PE ratio of 57.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $288.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

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.