Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Upgraded at Mizuho

Mizuho upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Friday, Marketbeat reports. Mizuho currently has $260.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

AJG has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $311.00 to $298.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research set a $289.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $227.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $58.58 billion, a PE ratio of 37.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $195.00 and a one year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 42.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total transaction of $1,032,440.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. The trade was a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total value of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,715,254.85. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 24,850 shares of company stock valued at $6,364,440 over the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,642,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 735,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $762,473,000 after purchasing an additional 94,940 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.