TD Cowen Upgrades Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) to Buy

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) was upgraded by analysts at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $377.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $295.00. TD Cowen’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 31.78% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AJG. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $286.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $291.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $285.72. The firm has a market cap of $71.47 billion, a P/E 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 quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $227.08 and a 1 year high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,237,000 after acquiring an additional 618,362 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after purchasing an additional 383,130 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 431.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 323,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,130,000 after purchasing an additional 262,987 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.