Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $319.29.

AJG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $320.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $331.40 and a 200-day moving average of $317.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $251.42 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.11 and a beta of 0.74.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,109,256.33. The trade was a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total transaction of $3,540,285.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 91,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,741,474.75. The trade was a 10.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,510 shares of company stock valued at $11,033,341. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.