Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lowered its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,161 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $10,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,964 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,259,000 after buying an additional 94,121 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 17.8% in the third 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. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $198,031,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,768,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,378,000 after acquiring an additional 50,885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $122.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $35.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $123.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $113.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.31.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.67.

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.