Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Raised to $340.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its target price boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $320.00 to $340.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $302.20 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $75.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.56 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $291.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.82. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $227.43 and a 12-month high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. Equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.