Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Purchased by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,768,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,885 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $180,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE BRO opened at $119.93 on Thursday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.33 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. As a group, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.