Sentry Investment Management LLC Decreases Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total value of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 96,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,666,597.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total value of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 96,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,666,597.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $231.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $50.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $244.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.70. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $198.52 and a twelve month high of $256.10.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AJG. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 price objective (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.23.

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.