Clarus Wealth Advisors Sells 154 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Clarus Wealth Advisors cut its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 6.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Clarus Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AJG. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,076,000 after acquiring an additional 790,467 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,763,177,000 after purchasing an additional 727,325 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 219.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,043,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,660,000 after purchasing an additional 717,221 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 476.2% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. now owns 484,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,965,000 after buying an additional 400,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,832,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,208,208,000 after buying an additional 398,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $301.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler upped 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 research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $283.86.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AJG opened at $294.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $64.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.72. 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $288.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.79.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,625,146.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total value of $1,799,520.10. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,536,855.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 44,145 shares of company stock worth $12,622,660. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.