First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 12.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 2,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the first quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $262.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $57.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $253.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $243.31. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $212.39 and a 1 year high of $266.39.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during 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%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total value of $3,974,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 80,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,109,286.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,395 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total transaction of $862,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 38,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,731,756. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $3,974,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,109,286.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,165 shares of company stock worth $13,629,049 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 price target (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $274.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $263.00.

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.