Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Raised to $320.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price objective raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $310.00 to $320.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Barclays initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an equal weight rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $252.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $282.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $276.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $60.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.88, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $285.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $262.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $301.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total value of $4,244,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,121,853.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total value of $4,244,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,433,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $997,053,000 after purchasing an additional 884,394 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,076,000 after purchasing an additional 790,467 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,763,177,000 after purchasing an additional 727,325 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 219.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,043,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,660,000 after purchasing an additional 717,221 shares during the period. Finally, Chilton Investment Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 476.2% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. now owns 484,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,965,000 after purchasing an additional 400,453 shares during the period. 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.