Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Lowered to $327.00 at Barclays

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price objective lowered by analysts at Barclays from $346.00 to $327.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.97% from the company’s previous close.

AJG has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $317.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of AJG traded down $3.60 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $314.50. The company had a trading volume of 643,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,377,916. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $263.22 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $328.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $319.97. The stock has a market cap of $80.54 billion, a PE ratio of 45.52 and a beta of 0.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 14.83%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total value of $3,540,285.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 91,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,741,474.75. This trade represents a 10.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,109,256.33. This trade represents a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080 in the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,421,591,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,997,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,815,007 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $719,489,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,327,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.