Strs Ohio Has $1.87 Million Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 251.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,747 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,392,000 after acquiring an additional 7,827,992 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,445,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,821,229 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 4.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,501,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705,570 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 170.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,931,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $181,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,071 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1,679.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,623 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BRO shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 13.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $56.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.66. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.54 and a 1 year high of $113.83.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 21.22%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.