Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 561 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,450,000 after acquiring an additional 14,860 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 161,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,756,000 after buying an additional 37,070 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,297,000. Marsico Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 316.9% during the second quarter. Marsico Capital Management LLC now owns 11,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after acquiring an additional 8,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth approximately $749,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.14.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $294.58 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $288.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $274.96. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $218.63 and a 1-year high of $301.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.63 billion, a PE ratio of 56.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. The trade was a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.