Janus Henderson Group PLC Has $483.87 Million Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 1.87 million shares valued at about $483.9 million.
• Analysts remain generally bullish on AJG: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with 13 Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $263.71.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $4.47 and recently declared a $0.70 quarterly dividend, equal to a 1.3% annualized yield.

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,869,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 239,272 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.73% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $483,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Asset One Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $237,000. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,394,000. Obion Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,139,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,745,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Citigroup raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE AJG opened at $216.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $227.22. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $327.34. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

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

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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