Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Raises Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,420 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $15,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $313.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $313.20.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $337.55. 1,426,982 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,147,627. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $318.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.81. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $345.43. The company has a market cap of $85.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.77 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. As a group, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.88%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.