Woodline Partners LP Raises Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 430.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 563,770 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 457,464 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 1.1% of Woodline Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.23% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $160,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allred Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Allred Capital Management LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $318.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE AJG opened at $343.59 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $331.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $312.51. The stock has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70 and a beta of 0.78. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $244.60 and a 12-month high of $350.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

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.

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