F M Investments LLC Takes Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

F M Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,169,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,664,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,202,742,000 after buying an additional 726,485 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,209,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,345,000 after purchasing an additional 34,999 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,000,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,139,872,000 after purchasing an additional 90,842 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,610,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $583,249,000 after purchasing an additional 13,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,572,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $586,277,000 after purchasing an additional 88,861 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock traded up $0.36 on Tuesday, reaching $237.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 620,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,393. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $198.52 and a 12-month high of $256.10. The company has a market capitalization of $51.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.58, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.95.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AJG. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total transaction of $2,925,233.85. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.