Employees Retirement System of Texas Sells 5,900 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Employees Retirement System of Texas lowered its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,900 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.08% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $68,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,997,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815,007 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,499,185,000 after buying an additional 739,130 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $240,665,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3,142.2% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,268,000 after acquiring an additional 621,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth $160,922,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $353.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $275.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.33.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total value of $313,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,344,571.98. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,105 shares of company stock worth $10,796,353. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE AJG opened at $250.43 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $239.47 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $64.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.57 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $278.74 and its 200-day moving average is $300.61.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 38.86%.

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.