Royal Bank of Canada Buys 14,922 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 484,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,922 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $104,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 10,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,604,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Manhattan West Asset Management LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter adjusted earnings were $2.84 per share, exceeding the $2.81 analyst consensus and rising from $2.33 a year earlier. Revenue increased 24.3% year over year to approximately $3.95 billion, supported by acquisitions and 6% organic growth across the Brokerage and Risk Management segments. Arthur J. Gallagher quarterly earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their outlooks following the earnings release. RBC lifted its price target to $310 from $300 and retained an Outperform rating, while Mizuho raised its target to $300 from $287 and also maintained Outperform. William Blair reaffirmed its Buy rating, citing cash EPS growth, resilient brokerage performance and potential upside from mergers and acquisitions. William Blair Buy rating reaffirmed
• Positive Sentiment: Gallagher repurchased roughly 900,000 shares for about $170 million during the quarter and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, providing additional shareholder returns. Arthur J. Gallagher second-quarter results
• Neutral Sentiment: Truist raised its target to $265 but kept a Hold rating, while Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased its target to $271 and maintained Market Perform. The mixed ratings suggest analysts see valuation and execution risks despite longer-term growth potential. Analyst price-target changes
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue fell short of the approximately $4.01 billion consensus estimate as higher expenses and lower interest income offset otherwise strong operating growth. Reported net earnings declined to $324 million from $368 million a year earlier, while reported diluted EPS fell to $1.25 from $1.40. These results likely explain why the stock has decreased despite the adjusted EPS beat. AJG second-quarter earnings analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that acquisitions are contributing more to headline growth while insurance-broker organic growth could moderate. With AJG trading at a relatively high earnings multiple, the revenue miss and profitability pressure may have prompted profit-taking after the results.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AJG. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.29.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,850,714. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 2.8%

NYSE:AJG opened at $249.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $64.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $190.75 and a twelve month high of $313.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.08.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 13.32%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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.