Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Rating Increased to Buy at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $377.00 price objective on the financial services provider's stock, up from their previous price objective of $295.00.

AJG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 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 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $292.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded up $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $286.09. The stock had a trading volume of 3,074,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,612,124. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $227.08 and a 12 month high of $316.72. The company has a market capitalization of $71.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.49, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.76. The firm's fifty day moving average is $291.57 and its 200 day moving average is $285.39.

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 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total transaction of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. The trade was a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 948.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,676 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 6,039 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 3,649 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 12,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,138,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth $208,000. 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.