Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock Rating Lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $313.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AJG. Barclays upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $306.45 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $67.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.37, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.72. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $308.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $288.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.60.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors 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 yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,625,146.84. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 219.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,043,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,660,000 after buying an additional 717,221 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,237,000 after purchasing an additional 618,362 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% in the third 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 buying an additional 383,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 431.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 323,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,130,000 after buying an additional 262,987 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.