Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Raised to $255.00 at Bank of America

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price objective boosted by Bank of America from $233.00 to $255.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AJG has been the topic of several other reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. 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 research note on Friday, March 22nd. Argus increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $253.00 to $252.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two research 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $255.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $252.06 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $198.52 and a 1-year high of $259.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $244.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.08 billion, a PE ratio of 51.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.08. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,109,286.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,395 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $862,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,731,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,069 shares of company stock valued at $12,946,945 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 175.6% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 460.9% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.