Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $280.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price objective cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $283.00 to $280.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AJG has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $292.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $249.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $253.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.03. The company has a market capitalization of $64.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.66. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $236.34 and a 12-month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total value of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total transaction of $1,032,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,472,271.97. This represents a 18.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,123,534,000 after purchasing an additional 217,136 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after buying an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,783,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,649,477,000 after buying an additional 101,298 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,891,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,373,403,000 after buying an additional 147,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,228,156,000 after acquiring an additional 45,256 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.