Analysts Set Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Target Price at $310.43

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $313.20.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,893,000 after purchasing an additional 11,752 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,237,000 after buying an additional 618,362 shares during the last quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 48,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,830,000 after acquiring an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 183,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,092 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 22,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $341.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.42 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced 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 return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. On average, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.