Signaturefd LLC Raises Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,316,259,000 after purchasing an additional 94,121 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,537,000 after purchasing an additional 371,980 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $198,031,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,394,000 after purchasing an additional 40,881 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,109,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,979,000 after purchasing an additional 330,661 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BRO shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $118.38 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $111.55 and a 200-day moving average of $107.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $33.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.33 and a 1-year high of $121.25.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share 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 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

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.