Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Grows Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,851,661 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $801,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $568,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,779,248,000 after purchasing an additional 787,265 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $344.42 on Thursday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $324.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $301.97. The stock has a market cap of $88.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.83 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $346.95.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AJG. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Finally, 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

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.