William Blair Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) – William Blair upped their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report released on Monday, April 15th. William Blair analyst A. Klauber now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $2.11 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.08. The consensus estimate for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s current full-year earnings is $10.06 per share.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 price objective (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.4 %

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $230.52 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $198.52 and a 52-week high of $256.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $50.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.64.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $2,946,000. Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 13,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,035,000 after buying an additional 4,102 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 3,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is a boost 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 dividend 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.