New York State Common Retirement Fund Increases Stock Position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,795 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,318 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.07% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $63,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,851,661 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,067,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,857,737,000 after acquiring an additional 305,876 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,327,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,471 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,779,248,000 after acquiring an additional 787,265 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,421,591,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $311.52 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $327.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $267.00 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The stock has a market cap of $79.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.08 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total value of $3,540,285.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 91,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,741,474.75. This represents a 10.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.

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