Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Stock Holdings Reduced by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 369,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,409 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $79,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. 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 worth $8,123,534,000 after buying an additional 217,136 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,264,359,000 after acquiring an additional 830,252 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $1,925,062,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% during 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. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. 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 report on Monday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $242.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $268.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $229.80 and its 200-day moving average is $224.96. The company has a market cap of $69.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $313.55.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.