Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $9.08 Million Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 33.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 29,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,271 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $9,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AJG shares. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $276.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 79,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Robert Pesch acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president owned 41,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,341,724.88. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE AJG opened at $264.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $67.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.56 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $236.34 and a 12-month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.86%.

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.