MBB Public Markets I LLC Purchases New Shares in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 14,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,329,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,355,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,482,223,000 after acquiring an additional 203,105 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,144,893,000 after purchasing an additional 86,824 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,059,711 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 76.2% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,000,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,236,000 after purchasing an additional 865,082 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 8.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,553,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,899,000 after purchasing an additional 114,688 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $102.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $29.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $101.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.54. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.73 and a twelve month high of $106.02.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BRO shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $94.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.67.

Brown & Brown 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.