New Century Financial Group LLC lessened its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Free Report) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 446 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,513,199,000 after buying an additional 47,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,541,044,000 after buying an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,538,000 after acquiring an additional 383,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,640,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,511,000 after acquiring an additional 42,841 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.07.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance
Shares of AJG stock opened at $287.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $71.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.84 and a beta of 0.76. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $227.08 and a one year high of $316.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $291.97 and its 200 day moving average is $287.52.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity
In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,626,666.10. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.
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.
Further Reading
- Five stocks we like better than Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
- What is a Dividend Harvesting Strategy and How Can Investors Profit from it?
- Market Momentum: 3 Stocks Poised for Significant Breakouts
- What is the S&P/TSX Index?
- Kinder Morgan’s Uptrend is Only Half Over: New Highs Are Coming
- Best of the list of Dividend Aristocrats: Build wealth with the aristocrat index
- Momentum Builders: 3 Stocks Positioned to Shine This Quarter
Receive News & Ratings for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.