Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Consensus "Hold": Nineteen analysts rate AJG an average "Hold" (1 sell, 11 hold, 7 buy) with a mean 12‑month price target of $281.76, and several brokers have recently trimmed their price targets.
• Mixed ownership signals: insiders sold 32,650 shares (~$8.14M) last quarter, while large institutions added positions — notably Norges Bank's new stake of about $1.925B — leaving institutional ownership at 85.53%.
• Dividend and results: AJG raised its quarterly dividend to $0.70 (annualized $2.80, ~1.3% yield) and reported Q4 EPS of $2.38 (beat by $0.03) despite a slight revenue miss; the stock is down roughly 4.5% to $217.87.

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $281.7647.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Evercore lowered their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $353.00 to $334.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $289.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $226.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th.

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

In other news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 85,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,552,814.40. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 19,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,384,778.72. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,650 shares of company stock worth $8,137,686. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,925,062,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,205 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,887,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,523,636,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253,498 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9,244.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,053,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $272,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $269,394,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 4.5%

AJG opened at $217.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $238.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $262.54. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $195.00 and a twelve month high of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s payout ratio is 45.53%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.

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