Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Raised to $274.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price objective lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $269.00 to $274.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AJG. TD Cowen raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $301.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $287.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $287.94 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $218.63 and a 1-year high of $301.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $288.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.93. The company has a market cap of $62.91 billion, a PE ratio of 58.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,145 shares of company stock worth $12,622,660 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% during the second quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.