Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Purchased by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% during the first quarter, increasing its ownership to 136,542 shares valued at approximately $47 million.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported a 16.0% year-over-year increase in revenue for the last quarter, with earnings per share (EPS) of $2.33, slightly below the consensus estimate of $2.36.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65, scheduled for payment on September 19th, with an annualized yield of 0.9%.

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 8.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 136,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,165 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $47,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,997,767,000 after buying an additional 4,815,007 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,499,185,000 after buying an additional 739,130 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $240,665,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3,142.2% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,911 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $221,268,000 after buying an additional 621,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 430.3% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 563,770 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $160,026,000 after buying an additional 457,464 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AJG. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $344.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $333.13.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $5.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $298.28. 829,470 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,530,387. The business's 50-day moving average price is $301.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $320.19. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $274.25 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $76.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.37 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 36.93%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.