Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $51.45 Million Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 181,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,905 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $51,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. W Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% during the third quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,289,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covenant Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 5,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,499,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $312.70 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.21. The firm has a market cap of $78.11 billion, a PE ratio of 47.96 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $316.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.53 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.