The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $286.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its target price upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $252.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $273.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $283.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $214.13 and a 12 month high of $283.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $261.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $248.74. The firm has a market cap of $61.96 billion, a PE ratio of 57.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $3,974,560.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,109,286.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $3,974,560.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 93,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,693,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,165 shares of company stock valued at $13,629,049. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,763,177,000 after buying an additional 727,325 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,308,316,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,832,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,208,208,000 after purchasing an additional 398,350 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $656,217,000 after purchasing an additional 14,366 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,611,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,206,000 after purchasing an additional 38,886 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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.