California State Teachers Retirement System Raises Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 375,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,286 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.15% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $86,171,395 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Dearborn Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 133,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,661,000 after buying an additional 7,946 shares during the last quarter. Gtcr LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $514,112,000. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $1,371,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $5,848,000. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 95,470 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,707,000 after purchasing an additional 7,025 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $299.00 to $296.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Argus raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $267.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $291.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $290.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 3,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $899,570.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,711,755.46. The trade was a 13.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total transaction of $3,240,960.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 71,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,254,543.36. This represents a 14.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $7,310,090 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $252.89. The stock had a trading volume of 746,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,937,488. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.81 billion, a PE ratio of 41.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $190.75 and a fifty-two week high of $313.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.22.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. The business's revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.28 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 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is 46.43%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting company. The company helps businesses, institutions and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance and related services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting, risk management, claims administration, actuarial services, captive insurance and wholesale brokerage. Gallagher arranges commercial property and casualty coverage, personal insurance, specialty insurance and employee benefit programs, while also providing services designed to help clients manage workplace, liability and other operational risks.

Founded in 1927 by Arthur J.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.