Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $282.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $274.00 to $282.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AJG. Bank of America raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $263.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $259.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $56.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.49, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $210.86 and a 12 month high of $266.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $251.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $242.59.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.08. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 36,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,560,583.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,303 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.74, for a total value of $2,181,530.22. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 36,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,560,583.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.41, for a total transaction of $3,974,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,109,286.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 53,165 shares of company stock valued at $13,629,049 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AJG. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,763,177,000 after purchasing an additional 727,325 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,209,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,345,000 after purchasing an additional 34,999 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,308,316,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,000,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,139,872,000 after purchasing an additional 90,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% in the first 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 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.