44,672 Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Acquired by Pelham Capital Ltd.

Pelham Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 44,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,837,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. makes up approximately 6.8% of Pelham Capital Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $208.22 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $195.00 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $249.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.66.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 42.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total value of $1,290,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,284,995. This trade represents a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $271.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.