Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Sets New 1-Year High at $275.54

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $275.54 and last traded at $275.46, with a volume of 38328 shares. The stock had previously closed at $271.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $274.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $263.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.76, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $259.55 and a 200-day moving average of $247.36.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.03 EPS. Research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.84, for a total value of $219,164.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,630,646.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,717 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total value of $2,240,269.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,485,587. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 850 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.84, for a total transaction of $219,164.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,630,646.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,165 shares of company stock valued at $13,629,049. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,763,177,000 after acquiring an additional 727,325 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,308,316,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,832,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,208,208,000 after buying an additional 398,350 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $656,217,000 after buying an additional 14,366 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,611,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,206,000 after purchasing an additional 38,886 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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.