Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Purchased by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $124.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.33 and a twelve month high of $125.68. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.78.

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 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%. Analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.67.

About Brown & Brown

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.