Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 9,892 Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 55,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,892 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $15,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AJG. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,305,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,462,392,000 after purchasing an additional 580,134 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,932,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,513,199,000 after acquiring an additional 47,656 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,490,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,541,044,000 after acquiring an additional 79,429 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,029,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $576,004,000 after acquiring an additional 184,960 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 126.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,003,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $568,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,441 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $332.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $345.43. The firm has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.92 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $316.96 and its 200-day moving average is $299.46.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its 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 return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total transaction of $760,825.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. The trade was a 7.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 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 segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.