Retirement Systems of Alabama Increases Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 201,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,433 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.08% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $62,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AJG. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% during the second quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.4% during the second quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 9,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares in the last quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at $812,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 735,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the second quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 828,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,209,000 after buying an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $253.13 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $236.34 and a 52-week high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $65.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.84 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $253.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $278.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.65 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 38.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AJG. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $328.00 to $311.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $329.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.50.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.00, for a total value of $1,566,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,224,348. The trade was a 10.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,100 shares of company stock worth $8,243,865. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.