Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 57.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 85,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 30,987 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $29,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 22.5% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $382,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 337.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 948 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Grand Managers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $7,096,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded up $0.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $316.50. 639,946 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,378,055. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $328.60 and a 200-day moving average of $319.40. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $260.83 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.80 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.45 EPS. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

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

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

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total value of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 45,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,502,278.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.