D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Grows Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 1,511.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,758,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,649,046 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 0.4% of D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.70% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $499,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the 4th 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 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AJG shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded up $2.50 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $333.78. 432,680 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,308,494. 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 52-week low of $244.60 and a 52-week high of $350.70. The company has a market cap of $85.48 billion, a PE ratio of 51.19 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $330.17 and a 200 day moving average of $310.63.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid 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 0.78%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.63%.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total transaction of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.