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

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 537 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 361,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,281,000 after purchasing an additional 28,359 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $3,841,000. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 70.4% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 5,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 112,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,206,000 after acquiring an additional 15,528 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $273.27.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $3,974,560.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,109,286.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 36,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,560,583.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total value of $3,974,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares in the company, valued at $20,109,286.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,165 shares of company stock valued at $13,629,049 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG traded up $9.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $283.58. 1,161,116 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 713,993. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.96 billion, a PE ratio of 57.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $214.13 and a fifty-two week high of $283.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.60.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

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.