Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 4,764 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 473.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,764 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,174,000 after acquiring an additional 430,917 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.57.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $329.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $84.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.58 and a beta of 0.78. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $244.60 and a 12 month high of $350.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $330.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $310.92.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.