Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $313.20.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st.

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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AJG traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $338.23. The company had a trading volume of 307,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,147,878. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $230.08 and a 1-year high of $345.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $319.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $300.37. The stock has a market cap of $86.15 billion, a PE ratio of 51.88 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,783 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.