Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Cut to $265.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its target price cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $266.00 to $265.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

AJG opened at $334.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.57 billion, a PE ratio of 51.32 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The business’s 50-day moving average is $329.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $304.16. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $350.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. Research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share 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 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.88%.

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

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total value of $877,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 187,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,723,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% during the first quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 5,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,011,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 18.2% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.4% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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