Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 9,783 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & Co. LLC trimmed its Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stake by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,783 shares and leaving it with 535,322 shares worth about $138.5 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with 85.53% of AJG shares held by institutions; several large investors, including Vanguard, JPMorgan Chase, and Capital World Investors, also added to their positions.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with 13 Buy ratings and 6 Hold ratings, a consensus “Moderate Buy,” and an average price target of $263.71. The company also beat quarterly EPS estimates, reported $4.47 EPS, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 535,322 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,783 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $138,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 217,136 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 830,252 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 147,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $1,925,062,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 company from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $263.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $218.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.06. 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. has a 12 month low of $190.75 and a 12 month high of $327.34.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. 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 45.31%.

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 transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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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