Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $307.00.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG opened at $322.42 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.45 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 $323.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $292.02 and a 200 day moving average of $290.38.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.88%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,513,199,000 after buying an additional 47,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,541,044,000 after buying an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,538,000 after acquiring an additional 383,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,029,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,004,000 after acquiring an additional 184,960 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.