Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Has $14.31 Million Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments trimmed its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.9% in Q4, selling 10,412 shares and now holds 55,276 shares worth about $14.31 million.
• Several large institutions increased positions—most notably JPMorgan now owns ~20.34 million AJG shares—and institutional investors collectively own about 85.53% of the stock.
• Arthur J. Gallagher raised its quarterly dividend to $0.70 ($2.80 annual, 1.3% yield), and recently reported $2.38 EPS (slightly above estimates) with revenue up 33.9% year-over-year.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. cut its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,412 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $14,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 buying an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,783,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,649,477,000 after buying an additional 101,298 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position 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 buying an additional 147,587 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,270,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,013,100,000 after buying an additional 395,304 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $221.42 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.16. The stock has a market cap of $56.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.68. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $195.00 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued 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 of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 45.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $235.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, January 30th. 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 report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $273.94.

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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