Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 1,624 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 577,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $58,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BRO shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $122.97 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.33 and a 52-week high of $123.24. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $113.33 and its 200 day moving average is $108.28. The company has a market cap of $35.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

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, beating 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 forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.