MJP Associates Inc. ADV Makes New $526,000 Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.3% in the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter worth about $222,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.7% during the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.9% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 365,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,275,000 after purchasing an additional 32,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 473.9% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total value of $2,634,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 93,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,693,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total value of $2,240,269.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,485,587. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total value of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 93,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,693,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,165 shares of company stock worth $13,629,049 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $264.60. 1,541,437 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 792,934. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.82 billion, a PE ratio of 53.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.99. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $209.39 and a 52-week high of $264.90.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AJG. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target 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, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $260.58.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.