The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 65,231 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 944,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 65,231 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.38% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $268,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,067,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,857,737,000 after buying an additional 305,876 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,327,403,000 after buying an additional 1,910,471 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,779,248,000 after acquiring an additional 787,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $1,421,591,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded up $13.78 on Friday, reaching $331.42. 1,818,548 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,297,828. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $235.09 and a twelve month high of $350.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $330.09 and a 200-day moving average of $308.30. The company has a market capitalization of $84.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.83 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.33.

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.