Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,713,709 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 113,158 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 1.26% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $610,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $1,431,788,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,664,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,202,742,000 after acquiring an additional 726,485 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,143,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $404,069,000 after acquiring an additional 619,008 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 36,168.9% during the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 357,974 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $81,593,000 after acquiring an additional 356,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7,923.4% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 298,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $68,122,000 after acquiring an additional 295,146 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $244.18. The company had a trading volume of 802,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 874,129. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $194.77 and a 12-month high of $256.10. The company's fifty day moving average is $244.42 and its 200-day moving average is $238.54. The company has a market capitalization of $53.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 9.63%. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $246.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $257.62.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $516,269.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.