Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Boosts Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 64.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,900 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $21,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on 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. TD Cowen raised shares of 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 7.4 %

NYSE AJG opened at $318.97 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $350.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.92 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $326.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $302.40.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

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.