Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Purchases Shares of 2,431 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.0% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 9,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,031,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.1% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 4,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,466,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,212,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 23,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,366,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total transaction of $1,032,440.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,472,271.97. This represents a 18.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 24,850 shares of company stock worth $6,364,440 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $228.40 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $195.00 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AJG. Truist Financial set a $271.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $292.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $281.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.