Invesco Ltd. Grows Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,803,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 388,411 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.33% of Brown & Brown worth $388,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 23.8% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 5,944 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 147,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,239,000 after buying an additional 7,172 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Brown & Brown by 85.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 121,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,541,000 after buying an additional 55,948 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 28,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,974,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $255,537,000 after acquiring an additional 371,980 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Brown & Brown stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $120.23. The stock had a trading volume of 581,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,426,864. The firm has a market cap of $34.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $116.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.76. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.33 and a 12-month high of $125.68.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BRO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $117.50.

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.