CX Institutional Increases Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

CX Institutional grew its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $2,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.08.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $106.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.79 and a 52 week high of $114.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $105.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 16.35%.

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.