Short Interest in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Increases By 6.0%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,110,000 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the March 31st total of 1,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 867,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

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

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 2,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9% in the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $238.59 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.08 billion, a PE ratio of 48.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.69. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $198.52 and a 52-week high of $256.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 target price (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.31.

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.