William Blair Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) – Investment analysts at William Blair boosted their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report issued on Monday, April 15th. William Blair analyst A. Klauber now expects that the financial services provider will earn $2.11 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.08. The consensus estimate for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s current full-year earnings is $10.06 per share.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share.

AJG has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $255.00 price target (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $230.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.92, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $198.52 and a 12-month high of $256.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $244.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.64.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. Romano Brothers AND Company grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 16,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,066,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,985 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Finally, OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction of $308,026.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total transaction of $308,026.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.