Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Boosts Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.8%, bringing its total to 82,423 shares valued at approximately $28.46 million.
• Equities analysts have mostly given Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. a "Hold" rating, with a consensus target price of $331.07, while one analyst rated it as a "Strong Buy."
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported a net margin of 14.54% and a revenue increase of 16% year-over-year, despite missing EPS estimates by $0.03 in its last quarterly earnings report.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $28,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the 1st 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 during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,511.2% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,758,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $499,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649,046 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 53,148.8% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,319,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $374,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,027 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,499,185,000 after purchasing an additional 739,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth about $240,665,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Piper Sandler raised 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 research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $317.00 price objective on the stock. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $345.00 to $322.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $333.13.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.8%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $2.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $304.84. The company had a trading volume of 629,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,886. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $274.25 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $78.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.34 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $303.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $321.25.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.93%.

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.