Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock Price

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price objective decreased by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $344.00 to $341.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 12.03% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AJG. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.86.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $5.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $304.37. The stock had a trading volume of 444,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,846,886. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.03 billion, a PE ratio of 58.01 and a beta of 0.76. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $227.43 and a 12 month high of $316.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $291.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.46.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. As a group, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AJG. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,237,000 after purchasing an additional 618,362 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,462,392,000 after acquiring an additional 580,134 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6,581.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,174,000 after purchasing an additional 430,917 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,196,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,538,000 after acquiring an additional 383,130 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 431.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 323,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,130,000 after purchasing an additional 262,987 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.