Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Research Coverage Started at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $267.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $232.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $59.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $247.16 and its 200-day moving average is $231.16. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $190.75 and a one year high of $305.74.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 9.96%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 46.43%.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott Hudson sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.13, for a total value of $3,169,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 90,262 shares in the company, valued at $23,840,902.06. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher Mead sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $899,570.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,223 shares in the company, valued at $5,711,755.46. This represents a 13.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,500 shares of company stock worth $7,562,950. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth approximately $3,587,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.1% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 149,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,389,000 after purchasing an additional 9,966 shares during the last quarter. Gtcr LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $514,112,000. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 193,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,433,000 after purchasing an additional 22,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $5,848,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting company headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The company helps businesses, public entities and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting, risk management and related advisory services.

Gallagher operates through several businesses, including retail insurance brokerage, wholesale brokerage and reinsurance brokerage. Its Gallagher Re business provides reinsurance broking and advisory services, while Gallagher Bassett provides third-party claims administration and related risk management services.