Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Raised to “Outperform” at BMO Capital Markets

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) was upgraded by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $278.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $275.00. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 29.94% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $213.94 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $227.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $255.28. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $195.00 and a twelve month high of $351.23. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $55.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.79, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The firm’s revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 15.5% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 158,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,728,000 after purchasing an additional 21,303 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,601,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth about $8,439,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 31,912.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 140,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,885,000 after acquiring an additional 139,775 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.