Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $1.81 Million Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Securian Asset Management cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 43.7% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 6,983 shares valued at about $1.81 million.
• Arthur J. Gallagher reported Q1 earnings of $4.47 per share, slightly ahead of analyst estimates, while revenue came in just below expectations at $4.71 billion. Revenue still rose 29% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, payable June 19, and analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with a $268 average price target.

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 43.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,983 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,415 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% during the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.9% during the third quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $198.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.54. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $194.15 and a 1 year high of $351.23. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $215.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $236.62.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the 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 owned 19,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company's 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 sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. BMO Capital Markets raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $268.00.

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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