Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 369,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,409 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.14% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $79,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE AJG opened at $268.92 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $229.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $190.75 and a twelve month high of $313.55. The stock has a market cap of $69.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.51, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on AJG shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Citigroup raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $242.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.