Brokerages Set Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Target Price at $274.44

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $275.38.

Several research firms have issued reports on AJG. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $252.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 93,730 shares in the company, valued at $24,693,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total transaction of $2,181,530.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 36,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,560,583.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 93,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,693,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,198 shares of company stock worth $13,562,074. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 361,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,281,000 after buying an additional 28,359 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,841,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 70.4% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 5,308 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 194,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,649,000 after purchasing an additional 20,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 112,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,206,000 after buying an additional 15,528 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $285.08 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.71, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.82. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $215.37 and a 1 year high of $290.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

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.