Csenge Advisory Group Grows Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Csenge Advisory Group’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,237,000 after purchasing an additional 618,362 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,174,000 after purchasing an additional 430,917 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after purchasing an additional 383,130 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 431.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 323,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,130,000 after purchasing an additional 262,987 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded 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 report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $321.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $292.01. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $329.60. The firm has a market cap of $80.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.