Eastern Bank Has $233,000 Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Eastern Bank cut its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $288.79 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $227.08 and a one year high of $316.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $291.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.14 billion, a PE ratio of 55.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by 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.