Royal Bank of Canada Raises Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target to $320.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $310.00 to $320.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AJG. Barclays started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $272.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $282.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $276.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $262.94. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $218.63 and a twelve month high of $301.04.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total value of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 329,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total value of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,145 shares of company stock worth $12,622,660. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% during the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.