First Trust Advisors LP Has $18.45 Million Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,370 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $18,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position 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. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AJG. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $322.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.44 and a beta of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $232.27 and a one year high of $350.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $330.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $307.25.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.