Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS Trims Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS lessened its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 770 shares during the period. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 1.6% of Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.7% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.8% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.7% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 33,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,606,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.5% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 14,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.0% during the second quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 7,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.57.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $281.09. 200,741 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,147,072. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $285.21. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $224.21 and a one year high of $316.72. The company has a market cap of $70.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.