Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $257.62.

AJG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $246.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 322,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at $76,712,707.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total transaction of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 96,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,666,597.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 2,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 1,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE AJG opened at $244.29 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.46. The stock has a market cap of $53.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $194.77 and a 12-month high of $256.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 54.05%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.