Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has $278.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $275.00.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $292.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $298.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Evercore lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG opened at $210.01 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $195.00 and a 1 year high of $351.23.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.53%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.5% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 158,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,728,000 after buying an additional 21,303 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,601,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth about $8,439,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 31,912.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 140,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,885,000 after purchasing an additional 139,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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.