UBS Group Raises Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $292.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $260.00 to $292.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $252.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $274.44.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $287.14 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $62.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $215.37 and a 12 month high of $290.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $264.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.40.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total transaction of $2,634,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 93,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,693,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.45, for a total value of $2,634,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 93,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,693,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,395 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total transaction of $862,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,731,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,210 shares of company stock valued at $17,911,529 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Journey Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.7% in the second quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 18,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.9% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 743,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,841,000 after purchasing an additional 6,334 shares during the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% in the second quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 46,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,054,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $309,000. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 12.9% in the second quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 35,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,267,000 after purchasing an additional 4,085 shares during the last quarter. 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.