William Blair Comments on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:AJG)

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) – Equities research analysts at William Blair reduced their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report issued on Tuesday, September 24th. William Blair analyst A. Klauber now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $10.07 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $10.16. The consensus estimate for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s current full-year earnings is $10.14 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.09 EPS.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $301.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $279.45 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $218.63 and a one year high of $301.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $286.46 and a 200-day moving average of $263.77. The company has a market capitalization of $61.06 billion, a PE ratio of 56.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.72. 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. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.58%.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total transaction of $2,103,020.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at $9,853,685.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at $9,853,685.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,145 shares of company stock worth $12,622,660 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at about $4,661,000. Brown Financial Advisors bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at about $740,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. New Century Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.8% during the second quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 3,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.9% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,943,000 after acquiring an additional 7,035 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.