Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $298.14.

AJG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $284.98 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $71.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.28, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $291.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.39. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $224.21 and a 12-month high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.