Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $325.10 and last traded at $324.67, with a volume of 711172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $322.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AJG has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $292.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.12. The stock has a market cap of $81.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.81 and a beta of 0.77.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. Analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,900 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 14,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,499.14. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 580.0% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.