Truist Financial Cuts Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $235.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price target cut by Truist Financial from $271.00 to $235.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on AJG. Mizuho upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $292.00 target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of AJG stock opened at $214.92 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $195.00 and a fifty-two week high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.39. The company has a market cap of $55.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.95, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total value of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,814.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $908,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares in the company, valued at $4,384,778.72. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,800 shares of company stock worth $4,095,936. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJG. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth $9,877,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. Cincinnati Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at about $42,824,000. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 241.4% during the third quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 49,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,332,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 71,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,086,000 after purchasing an additional 18,637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.