Analysts Set Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) PT at $318.57

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $318.57.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $307.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $340.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $331.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $312.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.18 and a beta of 0.78. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $244.60 and a 1 year high of $350.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51.

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total transaction of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,010 shares of company stock valued at $7,493,056 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 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.