Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 13,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,837,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,123,534,000 after acquiring an additional 217,136 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,264,359,000 after buying an additional 830,252 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 62,518 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $1,925,062,000. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,228,156,000 after acquiring an additional 45,256 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $226.34 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $210.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.90. 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. has a 1 year low of $190.75 and a 1 year high of $323.25. The company has a market capitalization of $58.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.53.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.23 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.