Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Short Interest Update

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,110,000 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the March 31st total of 1,990,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 867,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total value of $2,925,233.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG opened at $238.59 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $198.52 and a 12-month high of $256.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $243.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business’s revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.