New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Has $4.02 Million Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,650 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $4,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after buying an additional 3,851,661 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $719,489,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,327,403,000 after buying an additional 1,910,471 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $801,115,000 after buying an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $318.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE AJG traded down $2.06 on Friday, hitting $311.52. 715,217 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,388,463. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $267.00 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $327.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $320.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $79.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.08 and a beta of 0.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 14.39%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 37.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on 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 owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 45,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,528,080 over the last ninety days. 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.