Newport Capital Group LLC Makes New $15.38 Million Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Newport Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 59,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,376,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises about 12.2% of Newport Capital Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19,333.3% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 26,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,010,000 after acquiring an additional 7,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 338,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,209,000 after purchasing an additional 7,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,625,146.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,654,772.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler increased their target price 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, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five 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 $282.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $279.45 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $61.06 billion, a PE ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $218.63 and a 52-week high of $301.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

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.