Values First Advisors Inc. Has $382,000 Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Values First Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 15,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,381,000 after buying an additional 1,537 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 13,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,804,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $324.79 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $325.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.81 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $292.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 36.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.