Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund

Texas Permanent School Fund trimmed its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) by 5.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,552 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Levy Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Levy Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 24,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,202,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 5,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 84.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 4,966 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.04, for a total transaction of $804,690.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,160 shares in the company, valued at $2,780,606.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP William F. Ziebell sold 29,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.27, for a total value of $4,393,613.18. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 27,614 shares in the company, valued at $4,121,941.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 4,966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.04, for a total transaction of $804,690.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,780,606.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $182.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 16th. Evercore ISI set a $195.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, June 20th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, April 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $192.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $198.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.60.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $178.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $37.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $164.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.84. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $138.37 and a 12-month high of $187.02.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 16.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 1st. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 41.21%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance brokerage, consulting, third-party claims settlement, and administration services in the United States, Australia, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, New Zealand, India, and the United Kingdom. It operates through Brokerage and Risk Management segments.