Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Grows Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 19.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $6,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $1,421,591,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $719,489,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,327,403,000 after buying an additional 1,910,471 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $801,115,000 after buying an additional 1,745,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,511.2% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,758,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $499,055,000 after buying an additional 1,649,046 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reduced 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 report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $318.21.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.6%

AJG opened at $308.04 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $267.00 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $325.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $321.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $78.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.58 and a beta of 0.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total transaction of $4,645,755.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 11,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. The trade was a 53.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total value of $342,040.00. Following the sale, the director owned 45,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,502,278.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080 in the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AJG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.