Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Downgraded to “Underweight” Rating by Barclays

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $250.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential upside of 0.56% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $340.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup lowered their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $330.00 to $277.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.14.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $248.61 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.84 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $282.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $303.36. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $239.47 and a one year high of $351.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.19). Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 100,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,997,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815,007 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth about $1,536,230,000. Sands Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 453.3% during the second quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,121,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,934,000 after buying an additional 918,618 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 41,475.5% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 770,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,619,000 after acquiring an additional 768,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,499,185,000 after acquiring an additional 739,130 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.