10,500 Shares in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Bought by Nutshell Asset Management Ltd

Nutshell Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,000. Brown & Brown makes up approximately 0.7% of Nutshell Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 18,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 5,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth $211,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 82,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,541,000 after buying an additional 8,940 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 45.6% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 7,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BRO. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 7.6 %

Shares of BRO stock opened at $115.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $115.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.97. 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 12-month low of $80.33 and a 12-month high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. 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.