Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $330.30 and last traded at $326.99, with a volume of 108872 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $325.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AJG. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $299.78 and a 200 day moving average of $294.16. The company has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.93 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.47%. As a group, analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.61, for a total transaction of $877,569.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock worth $4,972,964 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,672,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,422,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851,661 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $719,489,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,199,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,327,403,000 after buying an additional 1,910,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 162.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,822,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $801,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.