Amalgamated Bank Decreases Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,256 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $12,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total transaction of $2,925,233.85. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 322,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,712,707.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective 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. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $238.72. The company had a trading volume of 545,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 839,971. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $198.52 and a 12 month high of $256.10. The stock has a market cap of $52.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.30, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $243.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.00.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

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.