Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Raised to $308.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price objective upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $295.00 to $308.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AJG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of AJG opened at $341.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $306.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $86.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.30 and a beta of 0.77. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $345.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 44,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AJG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,422,435,000 after buying an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $719,489,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,327,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $801,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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 business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.