Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Hits New 1-Year High at $300.92

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $300.92 and last traded at $300.92, with a volume of 43318 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $297.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AJG shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $252.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $276.82.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $64.66 billion, a PE ratio of 59.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $284.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.15.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 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 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total transaction of $2,482,959.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,145 shares of company stock valued at $10,629,900 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AJG. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 361,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,281,000 after buying an additional 28,359 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at $3,841,000. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 70.4% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,213,000 after buying an additional 5,308 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 194,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,649,000 after buying an additional 20,302 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $979,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.