Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 231.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 618,362 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $249,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 3,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,020,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23.7% during the third quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 11,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,354,000 after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 18.1% in the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 18,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.0 %

AJG stock opened at $290.56 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $218.63 and a 52 week high of $301.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,625,146.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AJG. TD Cowen upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.00.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.