Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 47,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,012 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $13,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 723,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,544,000 after buying an additional 275,832 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 7,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after buying an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $18,843,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $325.50 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $345.43. The firm has a market cap of $82.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $310.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $297.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.93.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.