The Goldman Sachs Group Downgrades Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) to Neutral

The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $313.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AJG. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $269.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $315.16 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $218.63 and a fifty-two week high of $315.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.15 billion, a PE ratio of 60.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 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, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. BOKF NA raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% in the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 2,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $684,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at $588,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.6% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 341,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,368,000 after purchasing an additional 2,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. 85.53% of the stock is 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.