Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $284.1176.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Citigroup increased 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 report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Evercore cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, December 18th.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 6,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.00, for a total transaction of $1,566,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,668 shares in the company, valued at $13,224,348. The trade was a 10.59% 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, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,865 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,123,534,000 after buying an additional 217,136 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,264,359,000 after acquiring an additional 830,252 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,891,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,373,403,000 after purchasing an additional 147,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $1,925,062,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AJG stock opened at $204.54 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $195.00 and a 1 year high of $351.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $250.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $271.51. 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 capitalization of $52.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 42.28%.

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.