Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives $263.71 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $264.1176.

AJG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $235.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $220.98 on Thursday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $325.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.13. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 45.31%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.