Texas Permanent School Fund Reduces Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Texas Permanent School Fund cut its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,552 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 54.0% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 1,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 68.0% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 159,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,856,000 after purchasing an additional 64,604 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.5% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 31,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,571,000 after purchasing an additional 6,888 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at $481,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 208,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,290,000 after purchasing an additional 26,370 shares during the period. 84.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, July 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $198.00 target price for the company. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $171.00 to $162.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, June 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $211.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP William F. Ziebell sold 29,434 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 27,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,941.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 4,966 shares of the company’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 value of $804,690.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,780,606.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP William F. Ziebell sold 29,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.27, for a total transaction of $4,393,613.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 27,614 shares in the company, valued at $4,121,941.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $178.51 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $164.19 and a 200 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. 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 PE ratio of 36.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 16.62%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 7.76 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, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.21%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

(Get Rating)

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.