California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 347,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,035 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.16% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $59,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,862,000. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $435,911,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,234,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $853,382,000 after buying an additional 1,162,186 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.4% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,232,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,668,312,000 after buying an additional 880,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 502.3% in the third quarter. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC now owns 499,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,532,000 after acquiring an additional 416,605 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director Kay W. Mccurdy sold 182 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.59, for a total transaction of $35,779.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,112,179.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.62, for a total transaction of $189,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,508 shares in the company, valued at $8,818,846.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kay W. Mccurdy sold 182 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.59, for a total transaction of $35,779.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,091 shares in the company, valued at $6,112,179.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,933 shares of company stock valued at $4,747,098 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $183.60 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $148.24 and a 1-year high of $202.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.94 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 13.08%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 2nd. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $215.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $215.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.86.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance 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.