Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock Price

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $341.00 to $370.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG stock opened at $332.02 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $316.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.46. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $230.08 and a 12-month high of $345.43. The company has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.92 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 39.88%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 59,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,864,000 after buying an additional 2,384 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter worth about $8,219,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter valued at about $324,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 30,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,563,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.