HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 3,754 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 86,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,754 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $8,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.5% in 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 period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.3% in 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 period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 3.7% in 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 period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 3.4% in 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 period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.5% in 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 period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BRO shares. Barclays raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $120.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $34.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.33 and a twelve month high of $121.25. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $109.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.20.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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