Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys 1,100 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $3,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $249,237,000 after acquiring an additional 618,362 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $124,174,000 after acquiring an additional 430,917 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $899,538,000 after acquiring an additional 383,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 431.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 323,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,130,000 after acquiring an additional 262,987 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.1 %

AJG traded down $6.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $321.59. 2,079,535 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,682,793. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $329.60. The stock's 50-day moving average is $293.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.95. The stock has a market cap of $80.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 36.81%.

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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.