Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Boosts Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.5% to 57,550 shares (about $14.9M), and institutional investors now own roughly 85.53% of the stock.
• Analysts give AJG a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target of $271.82; recent analyst moves include Barclays raising its target to $275 and BMO upgrading to outperform while Truist cut its target to $225.
• AJG reported quarterly EPS of $4.47 (beat the $4.43 estimate) with revenue of $4.71B (slightly below estimates) and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share (ex-dividend June 5, yield ~1.4%).

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,550 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $14,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sun Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $597,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $3,571,000. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 162,213 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,988,000 after purchasing an additional 32,494 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 77,216 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,983,000 after purchasing an additional 17,435 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $292.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $271.82.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $207.03 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $217.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $195.00 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The company has a market cap of $53.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.54.

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 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 company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.19 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 45.31%.

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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