OFI Invest Asset Management Purchases New Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,513,199,000 after acquiring an additional 47,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,541,044,000 after acquiring an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after buying an additional 383,130 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,029,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,004,000 after buying an additional 184,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $321.71 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $308.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.94 billion, a PE ratio of 49.34 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. On average, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors 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 is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.93.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.