Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Decreases Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 34.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,603 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% in the 2nd 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 period. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael Robert Pesch acquired 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $247.12 per share, for a total transaction of $988,480.00. Following the purchase, the vice president directly owned 41,849 shares in the company, valued at $10,341,724.88. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,566,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 50,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,224,348. This trade represents a 10.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 21,250 shares of company stock worth $6,071,365 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $252.05 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $236.34 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $261.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $290.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.73 billion, a PE ratio of 37.68 and a beta of 0.69. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 13.58%.The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued 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 is Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $361.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $362.00 to $344.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $353.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $295.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.88.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.