Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,009 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $7,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $3,841,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 70.4% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,000 after acquiring an additional 5,308 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 194,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,649,000 after acquiring an additional 20,302 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $979,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth $3,297,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.2 %

AJG opened at $276.06 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $218.63 and a 12 month high of $301.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $60.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $285.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $262.84.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $301.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $282.93.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,121,853.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.