Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Down 2.5%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) shares fell 2.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $282.34 and last traded at $283.99. 536,128 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 814,237 shares. The stock had previously closed at $291.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $282.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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 increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $277.56.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $61.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock's fifty day moving average is $285.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.35.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total transaction of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,536,855.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,145 shares of company stock valued at $10,629,900 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth about $4,661,000. Brown Financial Advisors bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $740,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. New Century Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 100.8% during the second quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 3,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.9% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,943,000 after buying an additional 7,035 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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