Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Rating Increased to Market Perform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $286.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $292.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.2 %

AJG stock opened at $286.09 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $227.08 and a 1-year high of $316.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.49, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,893,000 after buying an additional 11,752 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $216,000. Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 20,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,937,000 after acquiring an additional 8,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.