Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV Buys Shares of 4,720 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,340,000. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 1.2% of Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 90,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 10,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.99, for a total transaction of $3,229,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,774 shares in the company, valued at $22,536,304.26. This represents a 12.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $343.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.90 billion, a PE ratio of 52.71 and a beta of 0.75. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $230.08 and a 52 week high of $355.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $323.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $301.67. 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. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 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, equities analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $341.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.20.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.