Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,499,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 169,172 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.60% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $425,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.33.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 sale, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE AJG traded down $2.91 on Wednesday, reaching $329.79. 898,453 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,313,323. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $244.60 and a 12 month high of $350.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $310.92. The stock has a market cap of $84.46 billion, a PE ratio of 50.58 and a beta of 0.78.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.