Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $316.3333.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $291.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $361.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $365.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $340.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:AJG opened at $247.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.07. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.47 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $63.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 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 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 38.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares in the company, valued at $30,186,742.58. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total transaction of $313,425.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,344,571.98. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 37,105 shares of company stock worth $10,796,353 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 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.