Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $264.1176.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AJG. Citigroup upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.3%

AJG stock opened at $209.15 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $210.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $190.75 and a fifty-two week high of $327.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.53.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

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.