RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 7,085 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,011,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,340,000. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,096,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,779,248,000 after buying an additional 787,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diametric Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $339,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total value of $2,505,260.90. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AJG opened at $343.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.71 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $323.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.67. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $230.08 and a 12 month high of $355.16.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.88%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company 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.