Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.5%, now owning approximately $789.53 million worth of shares, making it the fund's 27th largest position.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., with Barclays lowering it to $327.00 while Wells Fargo increased theirs to $373.00, reflecting varied sentiment in the investment community.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%, with the payment scheduled for September 19th.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 19.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,286,895 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 373,819 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises about 0.7% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.89% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $789,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,499,185,000 after acquiring an additional 739,130 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,067,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,857,737,000 after acquiring an additional 305,876 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,327,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,471 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,957,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $839,524,000 after acquiring an additional 260,533 shares during the period. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $719,489,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 45,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $290.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,726,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,608,295. The stock has a market cap of $74.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.21 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $312.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $322.39. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $274.25 and a 12-month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share 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, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 36.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered 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 note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $329.15.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.