Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Reduces Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 352 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 7,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,843,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 63,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,973,000 after buying an additional 3,383 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $400,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 533,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,931,000 after acquiring an additional 46,130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $323.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $82.47 billion, a PE ratio of 49.66 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $307.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $296.99. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $345.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

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 (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.