National Pension Service Raises Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 508,412 shares worth about $131.6 million.
• The company reported strong first-quarter results, with EPS of $4.47 beating estimates and revenue rising 29% year over year to $4.71 billion.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, implying an annualized payout of $2.80 and a yield of about 1.4%.

National Pension Service boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 508,412 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 30,784 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.20% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $131,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $8,123,534,000 after purchasing an additional 217,136 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in 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 worth $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in 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 worth $3,649,477,000 after purchasing an additional 101,298 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 worth $3,373,403,000 after purchasing an additional 147,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in 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 worth $2,228,156,000 after purchasing an additional 45,256 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of AJG stock opened at $201.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $51.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.94. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $190.75 and a 1-year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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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