Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Cut to “Neutral” at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $313.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $315.00 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.00, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.29. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $218.63 and a 1 year high of $315.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, President Michael Robert Pesch sold 7,100 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.20, for a total value of $2,103,020.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 33,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,685.40. This trade represents a 17.59 % 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 the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $6,892,280. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BOKF NA boosted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 2,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $588,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 341,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,368,000 after purchasing an additional 2,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.