Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,792 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Mizuho set a $277.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $271.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $216.54 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $195.00 and a one year high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $55.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 42.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,472,271.97. This trade represents a 18.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 79,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,284,995. This trade represents a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,850 shares of company stock worth $6,364,440. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.