Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Acquired by California Public Employees Retirement System

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 46.7% in the first quarter, ending with 789,499 shares worth about $171 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive overall, with several analysts raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating and average target price of $280.35.
• AJG reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.47 per share for the quarter, while revenue rose 29% year over year; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share.

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 46.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 789,499 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 251,340 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.31% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $170,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,925,062,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,887,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,523,636,000 after buying an additional 3,253,498 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $272,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,361 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $269,394,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $227,887,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $276.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $280.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $254.36 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $190.75 and a one year high of $316.71. The company has a market cap of $65.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $221.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 45.31%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company's core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.

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