Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 324.3% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 14,740 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 40,881 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 304,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,055,000 after acquiring an additional 50,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 168,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,225,000 after acquiring an additional 54,246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of BRO stock opened at $123.08 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $112.98 and a 200 day moving average of $108.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.19 billion, a PE ratio of 35.57, 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 $123.24.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BRO. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.67.

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.