Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Upgraded to Overweight at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Piper Sandler currently has $315.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $285.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on AJG. Barclays lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on 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. Bank of America boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.14.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $284.98 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $224.21 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 $71.19 billion, a PE ratio of 54.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $291.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.39.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AJG. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 87 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, 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.