Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Purchases 14,263 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 139.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,490 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,263 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allred Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Allred Capital Management LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $940,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brendel Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.8 %

AJG stock traded down $2.70 during trading on Thursday, reaching $317.99. 595,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,287,656. The firm's 50 day moving average is $330.32 and its 200 day moving average is $307.80. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $234.33 and a twelve month high of $350.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $81.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.74 and a beta of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AJG. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.27.

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.