Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 309 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,664,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,202,742,000 after buying an additional 726,485 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 36,168.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 357,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,593,000 after purchasing an additional 356,987 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7,923.4% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 298,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,122,000 after purchasing an additional 295,146 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 26.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,289,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,879,000 after purchasing an additional 271,225 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 432.5% in the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 260,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,415,000 after buying an additional 211,716 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction of $308,026.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $516,269.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total value of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 96,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,666,597.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction of $308,026.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at $516,269.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,516 shares of company stock worth $7,059,160 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.6 %

AJG stock traded up $1.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $244.54. 247,336 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 857,998. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $198.52 and a one year high of $256.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $243.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $239.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.43 billion, a PE ratio of 49.19, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.03 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.