Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 1,335,964 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,335,964 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.47% of Brown & Brown worth $3,054,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,722 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BRO. Bank of America increased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $122.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,650,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,385,729. The company has a market capitalization of $35.16 billion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.31. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $123.24.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.