Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Shares Bought by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6%, owning 83,968 shares worth approximately $28.99 million after acquiring an additional 2,941 shares in the first quarter.
• Several analysts have recently varied their price targets for AJG, with Wells Fargo raising it to $373.00 and Barclays reducing it to $327.00, while the average target price is now $331.07.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported a quarterly earnings miss with $2.33 EPS, below expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, yielding 0.9%.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,941 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $28,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,449.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 295,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $101,908,000 after purchasing an additional 276,126 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.3% in the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 33,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,430,000 after buying an additional 4,650 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 117.8% in the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 134,585 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,206,000 after buying an additional 72,804 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 736,167 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $254,121,000 after buying an additional 7,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at about $1,186,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $331.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.1%

AJG stock traded up $3.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $305.82. The company had a trading volume of 401,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,539,547. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $78.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.42 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $307.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $322.40. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $274.25 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.93%.

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.