Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Forecasted to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $3.41 Per Share

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) – Analysts at William Blair decreased their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report issued on Monday, April 15th. William Blair analyst A. Klauber now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $3.41 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $3.44. The consensus estimate for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s current full-year earnings is $10.06 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s Q2 2024 earnings at $2.23 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.31 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $11.24 EPS.

AJG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.4 %

AJG stock opened at $230.52 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $198.52 and a 52 week high of $256.10. The company has a market capitalization of $50.32 billion, a PE ratio of 51.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 9.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.05%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total transaction of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 96,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,666,597.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total value of $3,825,900.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 96,709 shares in the company, valued at $24,666,597.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,323,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,321,493,000 after purchasing an additional 672,404 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,664,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,202,742,000 after acquiring an additional 726,485 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,431,788,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,209,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,345,000 after purchasing an additional 34,999 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,000,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,139,872,000 after purchasing an additional 90,842 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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.