Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Invests $202,000 in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $247.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.11, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 1.05. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $198.52 and a one year high of $256.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $243.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.37.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction of $308,026.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $516,269.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total transaction of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 96,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,666,597.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.