VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases Shares of 15,626 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 15,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,587,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 133,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,661,000 after acquiring an additional 7,946 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 23,248.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 86,171,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,782,367,000 after purchasing an additional 85,802,321 shares in the last quarter. Gtcr LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at about $514,112,000. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $1,371,000. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,848,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $299.00 to $296.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $290.28.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total transaction of $3,240,960.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 71,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,254,543.36. The trade was a 14.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.13, for a total transaction of $3,169,560.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 90,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,840,902.06. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 27,500 shares of company stock worth $7,310,090 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $244.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $313.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $255.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 9.96%.The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 46.43%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting company. The company helps businesses, institutions and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance and related services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting, risk management, claims administration, actuarial services, captive insurance and wholesale brokerage. Gallagher arranges commercial property and casualty coverage, personal insurance, specialty insurance and employee benefit programs, while also providing services designed to help clients manage workplace, liability and other operational risks.

Founded in 1927 by Arthur J.