LPL Financial LLC Raises Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 217,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 50,837 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.08% of Brown & Brown worth $22,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $8,274,000. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,223,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 374,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,250,000 after acquiring an additional 44,919 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 22,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,295,000 after purchasing an additional 7,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BRO. Bank of America boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.67.

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Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $125.13. The stock had a trading volume of 837,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,394,169. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.33 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The company has a market capitalization of $35.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $114.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.78.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.