Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Stock Price

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235 to $242 while keeping a market perform rating, implying about 13.6% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally constructive: AJG has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $264.12, despite some recent cuts from firms like Morgan Stanley and Truist.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.47 per share for the quarter, though revenue of $4.71 billion slightly missed estimates; the stock was trading around $213.06 on Thursday.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $235.00 to $242.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market perform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price indicates a potential upside of 13.58% from the stock's current price.

AJG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $278.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $266.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG traded down $3.03 on Thursday, reaching $213.06. The stock had a trading volume of 508,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,144,596. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $327.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business's 50-day moving average price is $210.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.22. The company has a market cap of $54.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.52.

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

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

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

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,123,534,000 after buying an additional 217,136 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,264,359,000 after buying an additional 830,252 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,953,598 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,834,682,000 after buying an additional 62,518 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,925,062,000. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,194,743 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,228,156,000 after buying an additional 45,256 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.

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