Piper Sandler Cuts Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $226.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its target price trimmed by Piper Sandler from $249.00 to $226.00 in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $279.00 to $249.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Mizuho set a $277.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $311.00 to $298.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:AJG opened at $218.03 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $244.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.66. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $195.00 and a 12 month high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 42.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total value of $1,032,440.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. This trade represents a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.05, for a total transaction of $1,290,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,715,254.85. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 24,850 shares of company stock valued at $6,364,440 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,123,534,000 after buying an additional 217,136 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,264,359,000 after acquiring an additional 830,252 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,953,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,834,682,000 after purchasing an additional 62,518 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $1,925,062,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.