Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,335,964 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.47% of Brown & Brown worth $3,054,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 217,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,225,000 after buying an additional 50,837 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,274,000. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,223,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 374,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,250,000 after purchasing an additional 44,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 22,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after purchasing an additional 7,142 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $121.44 on Wednesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $121.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $111.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.67.

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.