Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $296.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo lowered its price target for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to $296 from $299 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying 17.3% potential upside.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 13 Buy ratings and five Holds, resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target price of $285.12.
• Gallagher’s latest quarterly results exceeded earnings expectations, reporting $2.84 in EPS versus the $2.81 consensus, while revenue rose 24.3% year over year to $3.95 billion but fell short of estimates.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $299.00 to $296.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price indicates a potential upside of 17.30% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AJG. Citigroup upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $261.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.12.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $252.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.83 billion, a PE ratio of 42.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $190.75 and a twelve month high of $313.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 9.96%.The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,850,714. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 217,136 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,264,359,000 after purchasing an additional 830,252 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,953,598 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,834,682,000 after purchasing an additional 62,518 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,925,062,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 123.5% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 3,253,498 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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