Dearborn Partners LLC Acquires 7,946 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Dearborn Partners LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 7,946 additional shares and bringing its total to 133,936 shares worth about $34.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with 11 Buy ratings and 8 Hold ratings; the stock’s average rating is Moderate Buy and the average target price is $264.
• Arthur J. Gallagher recently reported quarterly EPS of $4.47, beating expectations, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share payable June 19, for an annualized yield of about 1.3%.

Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,946 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up 1.7% of Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC owned 0.05% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $34,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,825,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,429,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 118,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,919.2% in the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 19,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,398,000 after purchasing an additional 19,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $412,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $264.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.6%

AJG opened at $216.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $55.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $190.75 and a twelve month high of $330.78. The company's 50-day moving average price is $210.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.29.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share 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 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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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