Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

AJG has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho set a $277.00 price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $277.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $283.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $216.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $55.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $246.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.21. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $195.00 and a 12-month high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.28%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.11, for a total transaction of $1,032,440.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,472,271.97. The trade was a 18.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 15,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $4,041,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 79,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,284,995. This represents a 16.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,850 shares of company stock valued at $6,364,440. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.5% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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.