Provident Wealth Management LLC Takes $1.82 Million Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Provident Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,285 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,822,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises approximately 0.7% of Provident Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AJG. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,323,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,321,493,000 after purchasing an additional 672,404 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,664,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,202,742,000 after purchasing an additional 726,485 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,209,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,415,345,000 after purchasing an additional 34,999 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $1,308,316,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,000,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,139,872,000 after purchasing an additional 90,842 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AJG. TD Cowen upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and issued a $255.00 price target (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $255.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total transaction of $2,925,233.85. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the firm'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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG traded down $2.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $234.11. 1,404,187 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 756,403. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.68. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $244.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $198.52 and a fifty-two week high of $256.10.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.27% and a net margin of 10.27%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.

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