Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives $302.22 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $302.2222.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AJG. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $272.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $329.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $272.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, December 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total value of $313,425.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,344,571.98. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $4,041,750.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 79,549 shares in the company, valued at $20,284,995. The trade was a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 23,100 shares of company stock worth $5,921,175 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 870.0% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 209.1% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $261.74 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 50-day moving average of $255.11 and a 200-day moving average of $287.00. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $236.34 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $67.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12 and a beta of 0.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.86%.

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.