Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $543,000 Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,664,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,202,742,000 after purchasing an additional 726,485 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,209,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,345,000 after purchasing an additional 34,999 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,000,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,139,872,000 after purchasing an additional 90,842 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,610,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $583,249,000 after purchasing an additional 13,208 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,572,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $586,277,000 after purchasing an additional 88,861 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG remained flat at $236.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday. 880,401 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 865,938. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $244.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.94. The company has a market capitalization of $51.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.32, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.68. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $198.52 and a 52-week high of $256.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 54.05%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at $76,712,707.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 target price (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen raised 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 research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.23.

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.