Redburn Atlantic Initiates Coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Stock analysts at Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Redburn Atlantic’s price objective points to a potential upside of 4.59% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.20.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

AJG stock opened at $336.56 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $230.08 and a twelve month high of $345.43. The firm has a market cap of $85.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.62 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $319.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.37. 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 results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 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%. Analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,536,304.26. This trade represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $1,421,591,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $719,489,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,910,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 valued at $801,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,283 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.