Nordea Investment Management AB Grows Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,217 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 948.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after buying an additional 6,039 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 3,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.2% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 12,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,138,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $284.98 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $224.21 and a 12 month high of $316.72. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $291.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $285.39. The company has a market cap of $71.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.14.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.