Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 351,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,291 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $99,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% in the second quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at $29,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $21,625,146.84. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.14.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $294.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $64.63 billion, a PE ratio of 56.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $288.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.96. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $218.63 and a 1-year high of $301.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

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.