Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,507 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.08% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $49,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,764,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 523,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,612,000 after buying an additional 7,368 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 37.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth $427,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $22,538,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of AJG stock traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $282.34. 169,942 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 949,656. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $218.63 and a 12-month high of $316.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $293.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.59. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $61.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.74.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,800 shares of company stock valued at $4,789,260 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.57.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.