California State Teachers Retirement System Increases Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 341,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,527 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $85,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 24,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,548,000 after purchasing an additional 5,324 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $671,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kowal Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total transaction of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,536,855.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total transaction of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,536,855.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 850 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.84, for a total value of $219,164.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,630,646.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,500 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,569 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $274.44.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG traded down $1.55 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $283.45. 591,105 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 849,684. The company has a market cap of $62.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.68, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $214.13 and a 1 year high of $287.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $262.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $249.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

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.