Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $296.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $299.00 to $296.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $291.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.65.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $250.58 on Monday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $190.75 and a 1-year high of $313.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.37 billion, a PE ratio of 41.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $234.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 46.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dearborn Partners LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 133,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,661,000 after buying an additional 7,946 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $3,571,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 154,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,965,000 after acquiring an additional 44,824 shares in the last quarter. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $1,371,000. Finally, Gtcr LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $514,112,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.