Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its AJG stake slightly in the fourth quarter, selling 25,284 shares and still holding 20.3 million shares valued at about $5.26 billion.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported solid quarterly results with EPS of $4.47, beating estimates, while revenue rose 29% year over year to $4.71 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, payable June 19, implying an annualized dividend of $2.80 and a 1.3% yield.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,313,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,284 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 7.91% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $5,256,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,123,534,000 after buying an additional 217,136 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,264,359,000 after buying an additional 830,252 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,891,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,373,403,000 after buying an additional 147,587 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $1,925,062,000. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,228,156,000 after buying an additional 45,256 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $216.58 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $330.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.53. The company's fifty day moving average price is $210.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.08.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $264.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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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