Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Raised to $325.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price target raised by BMO Capital Markets from $312.00 to $325.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AJG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.14.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG traded up $1.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $295.76. 75,266 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 842,045. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $218.63 and a 1 year high of $301.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $288.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 45.71%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.