Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Bought by Prospector Partners LLC

Prospector Partners LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 284,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 917 shares during the period. Brown & Brown makes up approximately 3.1% of Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $29,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 105.1% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,930,000 after buying an additional 1,059,711 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,489,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,979,000 after acquiring an additional 687,783 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 123.9% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 733,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,597,000 after acquiring an additional 406,064 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 392.3% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 472,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,287,000 after purchasing an additional 376,892 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 771.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 415,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,008,000 after purchasing an additional 367,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BRO. Argus started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.42.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.3 %

BRO opened at $111.75 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.13 and a fifty-two week high of $114.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.45, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $106.31 and its 200 day moving average is $99.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 16.35%.

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.