Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Purchased by Sei Investments Co.

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 36.1% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 289,267 shares valued at about $62.7 million.
• Institutional ownership in AJG remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 85.53% of the stock; several large investors also recently added or initiated positions.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $280.35, while the company also reported quarterly earnings above estimates and paid a $0.70 dividend.

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 36.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 289,267 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 76,723 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.11% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $62,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $1,925,062,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,887,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,523,636,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253,498 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $272,670,000 after buying an additional 1,042,361 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $269,394,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $227,887,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $225.00 to $276.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $280.35.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.2%

AJG stock opened at $247.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $63.60 billion, a PE ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $190.75 and a 1 year high of $315.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.31%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company's core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.

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