Pictet North America Advisors SA Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Pictet North America Advisors SA purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 88,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,933,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BRO. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $26,900,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,017,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 25,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 5,866 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 119,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,524,000 after purchasing an additional 57,119 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $94.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.20.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE BRO traded down $1.67 on Friday, reaching $102.00. 935,077 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,250,196. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $66.73 and a 12 month high of $103.87. The company has a market cap of $29.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 21.95%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total value of $301,232.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,121,842.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total transaction of $301,232.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,121,842.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.