Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Bought by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $2,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.5% during the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.3% in the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BRO. Argus began coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.46.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.5 %

BRO opened at $104.19 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $114.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market cap of $29.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $107.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.09.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.35%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.