Graham Capital Management L.P. Buys New Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 881 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,256,000 after acquiring an additional 2,384 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.57.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $342.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $330.80 and its 200 day moving average is $312.07. The company has a market capitalization of $87.62 billion, a PE ratio of 52.47 and a beta of 0.78. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $244.60 and a fifty-two week high of $350.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.