Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $18.44 Million Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,832 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $18,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,076,000 after purchasing an additional 790,467 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 219.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,043,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $270,660,000 after buying an additional 717,221 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 231.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 885,796 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $249,237,000 after buying an additional 618,362 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,832,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,208,208,000 after purchasing an additional 398,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 29,927.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 232,412 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,394,000 after buying an additional 231,638 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AJG. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Bank of America raised their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $289.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.5 %

AJG stock traded up $1.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $297.30. The stock had a trading volume of 39,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 840,924. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.36, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $288.28 and a 200 day moving average of $276.12. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $218.63 and a 1-year high of $301.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 19.12% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business's revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total value of $1,992,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,625,146.84. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

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.