Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its target price increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $295.00 to $308.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential downside of 8.88% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AJG. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $338.01. 180,191 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,669,990. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $305.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.00. The firm has a market cap of $86.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.84 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.08 and a fifty-two week high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.