Aberdeen Group plc Buys 72,804 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 117.8%, purchasing an additional 72,804 shares, now owning a total of 134,585 shares valued at approximately $46.2 million.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, which reflects an annualized dividend of $2.60 and a yield of 0.9%.
• The company's recent earnings report indicated a reported EPS of $2.33, slightly missing analysts' expectations, although revenue increased 16% year-over-year.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 117.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,585 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 72,804 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.05% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $46,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 736,167 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $254,121,000 after purchasing an additional 7,257 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,186,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 92.1% during the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 25,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,669,000 after acquiring an additional 12,037 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.5% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 654,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $225,817,000 after purchasing an additional 83,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth approximately $136,565,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.9%

AJG stock traded up $2.8210 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $305.4610. The stock had a trading volume of 368,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,539,243. The business has a 50-day moving average of $307.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $322.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $78.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39 and a beta of 0.68. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $274.25 and a 52-week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is 36.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $345.00 to $322.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $331.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.