Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $293.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.50 and a beta of 0.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AJG. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 16,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. Challenger Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $355,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 125,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,648,000 after buying an additional 20,437 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $2,256,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 89,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,491,000 after buying an additional 10,616 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 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.