CENTRAL TRUST Co Has $4.93 Million Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 112,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,206,000 after buying an additional 15,528 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 92,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,946,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $3,974,560.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $3,974,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.24, for a total value of $205,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,496,312.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,219 shares of company stock valued at $12,727,781 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock traded down $0.19 on Wednesday, hitting $257.65. 396,716 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 842,808. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $198.52 and a 12 month high of $259.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $244.64 and a 200 day moving average of $240.69. The stock has a market cap of $56.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price 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. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 price target (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.71.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.