Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock Price Down 2.5%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)’s share price was down 2.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $282.34 and last traded at $283.99. Approximately 536,128 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 814,237 shares. The stock had previously closed at $291.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a 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 company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $301.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 2.2 %

The company has a market cap of $60.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $285.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total value of $4,244,400.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,145 shares of company stock worth $12,622,660 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,433,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $997,053,000 after buying an additional 884,394 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,076,000 after buying an additional 790,467 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,763,177,000 after buying an additional 727,325 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 219.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,043,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,660,000 after buying an additional 717,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Investment Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 476.2% in the 4th quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. now owns 484,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,965,000 after buying an additional 400,453 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, 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.