Short Interest in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Decreases By 16.3%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,370,000 shares, a decrease of 16.3% from the September 15th total of 2,830,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 818,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AJG. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $1.95 on Wednesday, hitting $289.52. 998,906 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 847,854. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $218.63 and a 52 week high of $301.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.2% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 24,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,996,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 10,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,846,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 2,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,785,000 after acquiring an additional 2,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 47.4% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.