Strs Ohio Trims Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Strs Ohio decreased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,349 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $15,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $252.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.84. The firm has a market cap of $64.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. 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 $319.25.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $235.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.12.

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.