Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Hits New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $346.95 and last traded at $343.93, with a volume of 85547 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $340.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $352.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 6.3 %

The company has a fifty day moving average of $325.81 and a 200 day moving average of $302.27. 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 company has a market cap of $82.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.42 and a beta of 0.75.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 69,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,422,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $719,489,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,327,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $801,115,000 after buying an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

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.