Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 479 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 324,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $92,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $341.78 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $345.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.40 billion, a PE ratio of 52.42 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $320.82 and its 200 day moving average is $300.66.

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 (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 39.88%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.