Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Boosts Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 519,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,553 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $129,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $274.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $263.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $0.48 on Wednesday, hitting $261.52. 78,349 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 858,885. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $57.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $212.39 and a 12-month high of $266.39.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.03 EPS. Analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total value of $3,974,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total value of $3,974,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 93,730 shares in the company, 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 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.