California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 46.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 789,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 251,340 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $170,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,123,534,000 after buying an additional 217,136 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,264,359,000 after acquiring an additional 830,252 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,953,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,834,682,000 after acquiring an additional 62,518 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,925,062,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,887,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,636,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253,498 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $254.36 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $190.75 and a 1 year high of $316.71. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.67. The company has a market capitalization of $65.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on AJG shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $242.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.