StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $215.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. They set an outperform rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, December 29th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $213.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $180.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $190.67 and a 200-day moving average of $187.18. The stock has a market cap of $38.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.69. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $148.24 and a 52 week high of $202.37.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 18.64%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 42.31%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.62, for a total transaction of $189,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,508 shares in the company, valued at $8,818,846.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.62, for a total transaction of $189,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,818,846.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kay W. Mccurdy sold 182 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.59, for a total transaction of $35,779.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,112,179.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,933 shares of company stock valued at $4,747,098. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.5% in the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 49.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter worth approximately $838,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 37.7% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 25.0% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 11,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 2,235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.07% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.