PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Purchases New Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators opened a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter, buying 36,233 shares worth about $9.38 million.
• The stock has continued to draw strong institutional interest, with 85.53% of shares owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors; several large firms, including Norges Bank and JPMorgan, also expanded their stakes.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported quarterly earnings of $4.47 per share, topping estimates, and announced a $0.70 quarterly dividend to be paid June 19, implying a 1.3% yield.

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 36,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,377,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,925,062,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $272,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,361 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.5% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,107,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $962,483,000 after acquiring an additional 725,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,270,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,013,100,000 after acquiring an additional 395,304 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $216.58 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $55.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $330.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.29.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 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, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

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

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were 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 $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $235.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. UBS Group set a $240.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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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