William Blair Comments on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s Q1 2024 Earnings (NYSE:AJG)

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) - Analysts at William Blair cut their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report issued on Monday, April 15th. William Blair analyst A. Klauber now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings of $3.41 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $3.44. The consensus estimate for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s current full-year earnings is $10.06 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s Q2 2024 earnings at $2.23 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.31 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $11.24 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AJG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $246.00 to $240.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $249.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $279.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $255.00 target price (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $255.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG traded down $0.91 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $230.52. The stock had a trading volume of 735,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 872,526. The firm's fifty day moving average is $244.49 and its 200 day moving average is $238.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $198.52 and a 52 week high of $256.10. The stock has a market cap of $50.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS.

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

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.4% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 2,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.9% during the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total value of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at $10,540,693.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director David S. Johnson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.04, for a total transaction of $117,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,038 shares in the company, valued at $10,540,693.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 12,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.65, for a total transaction of $2,925,233.85. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 322,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $76,712,707.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,016 shares of company stock worth $7,176,180 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.05%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.