Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives $298.14 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $304.07.

AJG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $286.09 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $291.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.72. The company has a market cap of $71.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.49, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $227.08 and a one year high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. The trade was a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 948.0% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 6,039 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 3,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.1% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 4,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $622,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.