Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 64,864 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 673,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,864 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.31% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $174,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,433,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $997,053,000 after acquiring an additional 884,394 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,076,000 after acquiring an additional 790,467 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,763,177,000 after acquiring an additional 727,325 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 476.2% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. now owns 484,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,965,000 after acquiring an additional 400,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 510.1% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 189,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,339,000 after acquiring an additional 158,295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $276.06 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $285.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $218.63 and a 52-week high of $301.04. The firm has a market cap of $60.32 billion, a PE ratio of 55.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total value of $1,799,520.10. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,855.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on AJG shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.93.

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.