Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Buys 3,395 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,395 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $8,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO opened at $119.80 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.58. The company has a market capitalization of $34.25 billion, a PE ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. Research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

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

Brown & Brown 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.