Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Grows Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 2,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 9,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.2% during the fourth quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $324.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.81 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $325.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $292.59 and a 200 day moving average of $291.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AJG. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.