Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Short Interest Down 5.4% in July

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,170,000 shares, a decline of 5.4% from the June 30th total of 3,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 812,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $287.12 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $263.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $215.37 and a 12-month high of $287.60.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total transaction of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,536,855.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total value of $1,799,520.10. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,855.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,395 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $862,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,731,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,500 shares of company stock worth $15,428,569 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% in the second quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $252.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $274.44.

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.