Mizuho Securities USA LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 66.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,465 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,054,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $332.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $316.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.92 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $310.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction 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 $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.