Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s (AJG) Buy Rating Reiterated at Truist Financial

Truist Financial restated their buy rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $280.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on AJG. Jefferies Financial Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $233.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a market perform rating and a $249.00 price target for the company. Raymond James cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $246.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $255.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AJG opened at $250.06 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $186.88 and a 52-week high of $256.10. The company has a market capitalization of $54.59 billion, a PE ratio of 56.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $242.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 9.63%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.09 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 45,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joel D. Cavaness sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.20, for a total value of $308,026.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,269.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 2,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% during the second quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 1,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9% during the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.