Wells Fargo & Company Increases Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $299.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $271.00 to $299.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 18.62% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AJG. Wolfe Research downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $242.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.18.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded down $4.55 on Thursday, hitting $252.06. The stock had a trading volume of 698,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,153,372. The stock has a market cap of $64.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $190.75 and a twelve month high of $316.71. The business’s 50 day moving average is $214.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dearborn Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 133,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,661,000 after purchasing an additional 7,946 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 65,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,398,000 after purchasing an additional 6,090 shares during the last quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 78,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,302,000 after purchasing an additional 8,539 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,571,000. Finally, GuoLine Advisory Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $13,561,000. 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.