Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 433,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,110 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.15% of Brown & Brown worth $44,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 28,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,866,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 77.6% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 324,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,079,000 after acquiring an additional 141,700 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 4,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,054,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,964 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 217,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,225,000 after purchasing an additional 50,837 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $122.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.33 and a 52 week high of $123.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $113.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.31.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced 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 net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.