American Century Companies Inc. Has $5.41 Million Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 84.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 101,545 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $568,619,000 after buying an additional 1,117,441 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $163,087,000. Burkehill Global Management LP bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,118,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,174,000 after purchasing an additional 430,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 723,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,544,000 after purchasing an additional 275,832 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 7.4 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $318.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $350.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $326.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.92 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.