World Investment Advisors Has $290,000 Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

World Investment Advisors lessened its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 98.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 79,082 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the 4th 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. grew its position in 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 valued at $568,619,000 after buying an additional 1,117,441 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,779,248,000 after buying an additional 787,265 shares during the last quarter. 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $310.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $79.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.65 and a beta of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $230.08 and a one year high of $350.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $327.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $303.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.