Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $289.14.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $292.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $288.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.98. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $218.63 and a twelve month high of $301.04. The firm has a market cap of $64.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 45.71%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. The trade was a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,076,000 after buying an additional 790,467 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,763,177,000 after buying an additional 727,325 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 219.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,043,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,660,000 after buying an additional 717,221 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $249,237,000 after buying an additional 618,362 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $3,462,392,000 after buying an additional 580,134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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.