Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $341.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $344.00 to $341.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AJG. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $302.20 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $291.66 and its 200 day moving average is $288.82. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $227.43 and a 52 week high of $316.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $75.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.56 and a beta of 0.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Key Financial Inc raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 48,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,714,000 after purchasing an additional 5,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 18,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,309,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.