Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $296.57.

Several brokerages recently commented on AJG. Bank of America raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $313.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock traded up $3.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $284.59. The company had a trading volume of 2,827,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 960,989. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $218.63 and a 1-year high of $316.72. The firm has a market cap of $71.09 billion, a PE ratio of 54.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $293.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $282.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,625,146.84. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,800 shares of company stock valued at $4,789,260 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AJG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 80.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 32.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 17,043 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 4,192 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 358,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $93,074,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.7% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.