Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AJG. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $345.00 to $322.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $371.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $329.15.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.0%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $290.13 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $274.25 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $312.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $322.83. The stock has a market cap of $74.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.21 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.03). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.17, for a total value of $3,540,285.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 91,175 shares in the company, valued at $30,741,474.75. This trade represents a 10.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 8,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,371,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 2,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 4,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,375,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 17,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,047,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $20,718,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.