Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 537 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BOKF NA increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 2,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $684,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 212.0% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 47,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,775,000 after buying an additional 31,997 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 59,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,984,000 after buying an additional 9,581 shares during the last quarter. JT Stratford LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth $209,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,832,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,208,208,000 after buying an additional 398,350 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total value of $3,974,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,395 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $862,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,731,756. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $3,974,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,109,286.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,165 shares of company stock valued at $13,629,049. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased 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 report on Friday. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $252.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $273.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 3.5 %

NYSE AJG traded up $9.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $283.58. 1,161,116 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 713,993. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $214.13 and a 52-week high of $283.90. The firm has a market cap of $61.96 billion, a PE ratio of 57.40, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.60. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

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.