Kentucky Retirement Systems Boosts Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $5,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the first quarter. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH now owns 69,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,829,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth about $236,000. Garde Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 113.9% in the first quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 2,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% in the first quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 3,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, GAM Holding AG raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.7% in the first quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 13,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,831,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.29.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.2%

AJG opened at $320.84 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $251.42 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $330.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.47. The company has a market cap of $82.17 billion, a PE ratio of 46.43 and a beta of 0.74.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 14.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 37.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total value of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total transaction of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. The trade was a 53.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.