Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Invests $907,000 in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG bought a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $907,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 324.3% in the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,967,000 after acquiring an additional 14,740 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 161,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,104,000 after buying an additional 6,805 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth $9,832,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,315,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,302,000 after buying an additional 17,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 430,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,960,000 after buying an additional 254,900 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $110.50 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.33 and a 52 week high of $114.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.05. The firm has a market cap of $31.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BRO. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.17.

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.