Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $266.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $273.00 to $266.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AJG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $292.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $213.25 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.49. The firm has a market cap of $54.83 billion, a PE ratio of 34.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.68. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $195.00 and a 12-month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at about $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.2% during the third quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 65,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,398,000 after buying an additional 6,090 shares during the last quarter. Cincinnati Financial Corp bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter worth about $42,824,000. Finally, Factory Mutual Insurance Co. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 241.4% during the third quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 49,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,332,000 after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.