Piper Sandler Boosts Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $372.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $352.00 to $372.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target points to a potential upside of 30.96% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on AJG. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $329.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of AJG opened at $284.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.35 and a beta of 0.68. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $274.25 and a 12-month high of $351.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $318.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $322.86.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 14.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total value of $3,540,285.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 91,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,741,474.75. The trade was a 10.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total transaction of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 45,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,502,278.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 22.5% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $382,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2,750.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,879,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Grand Managers LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,096,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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