Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price target increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $307.00 to $315.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.33.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 4.3 %

NYSE:AJG opened at $331.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.83 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $330.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $308.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $235.09 and a 12-month high of $350.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.