Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives $260.58 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $260.58.

AJG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $259.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $249.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $242.29. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $209.39 and a 52-week high of $266.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.61, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.24, for a total transaction of $205,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,496,312.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.24, for a total value of $205,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,496,312.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,717 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total transaction of $2,240,269.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,485,587. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 53,165 shares of company stock valued at $13,629,049 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors 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.