Financial Life Planners Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 21,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake 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 worth $940,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $309.05 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $291.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.94. The firm has a market cap of $77.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.40 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.81%.

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