Stonnington Group LLC Has $869,000 Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Stonnington Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) by 34.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the quarter. Stonnington Group LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $869,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,783,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,414,680,000 after purchasing an additional 266,711 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,668,312,000 after buying an additional 880,314 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,534,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $947,576,000 after buying an additional 300,053 shares in the last quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $22,862,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at approximately $435,911,000. 82.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 18,700 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.66, for a total transaction of $3,565,342.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 42,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,051,762.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 18,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.66, for a total transaction of $3,565,342.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 42,231 shares in the company, valued at $8,051,762.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Patrick Murphy Gallagher sold 5,051 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.34, for a total value of $956,356.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 34,134 shares in the company, valued at $6,462,931.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,933 shares of company stock worth $4,747,098 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $180.00 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $148.24 and a twelve month high of $202.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 42.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $215.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.71.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

(Get Rating)

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