National Pension Service Buys 8,642 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

National Pension Service lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 391,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,642 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.18% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $88,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 36,860 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,402,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 43,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,928,000 after acquiring an additional 13,571 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. Simmons Bank lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 1,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 636,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $145,051,000 after acquiring an additional 73,398 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $2.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $247.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 759,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 859,498. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $243.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $198.52 and a 1-year high of $256.10.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total transaction of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 96,709 shares in the company, valued at $24,666,597.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total transaction of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 96,709 shares in the company, valued at $24,666,597.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction of $308,026.40. Following 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. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of 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. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of 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. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $255.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.