Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys 525 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $2,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in 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 valued at $81,593,000 after buying an additional 356,987 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7,923.4% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 298,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,122,000 after buying an additional 295,146 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,289,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,879,000 after buying an additional 271,225 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 432.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 260,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,415,000 after acquiring an additional 211,716 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $238.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 545,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 839,971. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $243.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $52.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.32, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $198.52 and a 12-month high of $256.10.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 2,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. One 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 $255.31.

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.