Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Raised to $275.00 at Barclays

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price target raised by Barclays from $262.00 to $275.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on AJG. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore decreased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $226.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.41.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of AJG opened at $220.94 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $219.88 and a 200 day moving average of $249.69. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $195.00 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The firm has a market cap of $56.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 45.53%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 29,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,731,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 79.6% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 7,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,942,000 after buying an additional 3,326 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 125.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 98,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,431,000 after buying an additional 54,639 shares during the last quarter. Bayban bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $518,000. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.