Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) PT Raised to $265.00 at Raymond James

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price target increased by Raymond James from $255.00 to $265.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $247.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $231.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Argus raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $232.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $238.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $234.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $233.32 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $222.92 and a 200 day moving average of $209.99. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $167.93 and a 1 year high of $233.49.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 12.11%. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 42.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.99, for a total value of $6,779,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 164,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,146,202.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 4,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total value of $1,050,284.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,942 shares in the company, valued at $29,288,482.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.99, for a total transaction of $6,779,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 164,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,146,202.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,888 shares of company stock valued at $8,576,247 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AJG. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $29,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.9% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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 businesses and organizations 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.