Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Analysts at Barclays

Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $300.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

AJG has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $276.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $294.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $279.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.40. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $218.63 and a 52 week high of $298.24.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 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, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at $21,654,772.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total value of $4,244,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,348 shares of company stock valued at $13,342,910. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,409,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,642,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.