Ballentine Partners LLC Acquires 218 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $255,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $551,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,003,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,256,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 36,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,560,583.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 36,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,560,583.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,121,853.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,348 shares of company stock worth $13,342,910. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $294.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.65, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $282.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.53. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $218.63 and a 12 month high of $300.66.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $252.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $276.82.

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.