BXM Wealth LLC Buys New Shares in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

BXM Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 3.6% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,785,000 after purchasing an additional 2,537 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 6.2% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 24,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,996,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth about $330,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 22,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,393,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG stock opened at $321.59 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52-week low of $230.08 and a 52-week high of $329.60. The stock has a market cap of $80.33 billion, a PE ratio of 49.32 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $293.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.61.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.4 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.81%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total value 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 approximately $22,536,304.26. The trade was a 12.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,031,487.89. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,725 shares of company stock valued at $4,972,964 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $344.00 to $341.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.00.

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