Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Invests $2.47 Million in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,468,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AJG. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $319.29.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total transaction of $3,540,285.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 91,175 shares in the company, valued at $30,741,474.75. This represents a 10.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $8.49 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $317.49. 1,507,301 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,351,371. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $317.82. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $251.42 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.95 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

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.