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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $289.14.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. FMR LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,763,177,000 after purchasing an additional 727,325 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,513,199,000 after purchasing an additional 47,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,541,044,000 after purchasing an additional 79,429 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $292.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $218.63 and a twelve month high of $301.04. The company's 50 day moving average is $288.25 and its 200 day moving average is $275.98. The company has a market cap of $64.14 billion, a PE ratio of 55.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

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.