Altshuler Shaham Ltd Makes New $68,000 Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 36,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,402,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 96,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,747,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.0% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 40,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,304,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $9,928,000 after acquiring an additional 13,571 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $2.55 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $247.56. The stock had a trading volume of 759,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 859,498. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $243.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $198.52 and a twelve month high of $256.10. The firm has a market cap of $54.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 96,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,666,597.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total transaction of $3,825,900.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 96,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,666,597.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction of $308,026.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at $516,269.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. 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 research note on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.31.

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.