Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Cut to $240.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price target trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $246.00 to $240.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AJG. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price target for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a hold rating and issued a $255.00 price target (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $240.02 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $244.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $194.98 and a 52-week high of $256.10. The firm has a market cap of $52.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.06, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.05%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.06, for a total value of $3,825,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 96,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,666,597.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $7,176,180 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 13,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,035,000 after buying an additional 4,102 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 3,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $511,910,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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 entities and individuals 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.