PAX Financial Group LLC Sells 141 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

PAX Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $699,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $344.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.77 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $325.81 and a 200-day moving average of $302.27. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $350.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This trade 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 worth $7,478,224 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.20.

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.