Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $16,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. LGT Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,519.0% during the 2nd quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC now owns 340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Journey Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.7% in the second quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 18,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 743,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,841,000 after purchasing an additional 6,334 shares during the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 46,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,054,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Finally, Consolidated Planning Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $309,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $294.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.56, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.28. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $218.63 and a twelve month high of $298.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Argus boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $276.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 36,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,560,583.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 36,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,560,583.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 48,348 shares of company stock worth $13,342,910. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.