Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $263.7059.

Several equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Monday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:AJG opened at $216.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $55.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $327.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $210.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.22.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 8,725 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,110 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,946,000. Carlson Capital L.P. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $347,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.