HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 3,754 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,754 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $8,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099,199 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,915,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 258.0% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 646,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $66,985,000 after buying an additional 465,988 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $255,537,000 after buying an additional 371,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 108.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 678,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $69,570,000 after buying an additional 353,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

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Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE:BRO traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $119.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,646,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,287,732. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $110.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $80.33 and a one year high of $121.25.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BRO. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $113.17.

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.