Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG Stock Bought by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,663 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $11,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Triumph Capital Management boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott Hudson sold 12,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.13, for a total transaction of $3,169,560.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 90,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,840,902.06. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Walter Bay sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total value of $3,240,960.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 71,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,254,543.36. This trade represents a 14.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 28,500 shares of company stock worth $7,562,950 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $250.17 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $190.75 and a fifty-two week high of $288.33. The stock has a market cap of $64.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.49, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $246.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.02.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 9.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, October 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $278.00 to $255.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.74.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting company headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The company helps businesses, public entities and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting, risk management and related advisory services.

Gallagher operates through several businesses, including retail insurance brokerage, wholesale brokerage and reinsurance brokerage. Its Gallagher Re business provides reinsurance broking and advisory services, while Gallagher Bassett provides third-party claims administration and related risk management services.