Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives $273.82 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $273.8235.

Several analysts recently weighed in on AJG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $298.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $219.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $56.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.48. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $195.00 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase 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 45.53%.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.