Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 523,324 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,368 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.24% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $151,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 80.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 358,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $93,074,000 after buying an additional 3,779 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.7% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 114,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,809,000 after purchasing an additional 3,298 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays increased 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.57.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of AJG traded up $1.54 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $286.13. 2,981,694 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 969,338. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $293.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $282.31. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $218.63 and a 52-week high of $316.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.74.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.70, for a total value of $1,992,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,626,666.10. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 16,800 shares of company stock valued at $4,789,260. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.