FIL Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

FIL Ltd decreased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 538,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 56,725 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.19% of Brown & Brown worth $54,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 5,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 147,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,239,000 after acquiring an additional 7,172 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 85.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 121,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,541,000 after acquiring an additional 55,948 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 28,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,974,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after acquiring an additional 371,980 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 3.6 %

NYSE BRO opened at $116.48 on Thursday. 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 has a market cap of $33.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.38. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.33 and a 52 week high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.25.

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.