Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,948 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,256,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $315.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $338.67. The company had a trading volume of 576,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,310,456. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $244.60 and a 1-year high of $350.70. The business's 50 day moving average price is $330.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $310.13. The firm has a market cap of $86.73 billion, a PE ratio of 51.94 and a beta of 0.78.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This trade represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,835 shares of company stock valued at $5,839,830. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.