Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Boosts Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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 upped 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $123.08 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $123.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $112.98 and its 200 day moving average is $108.14. The stock has a market cap of $35.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.57, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

About Brown & Brown

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.