Captrust Financial Advisors Increases Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 47.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,797 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $7,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BRO. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 371,980 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the third quarter valued at $58,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 24.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 109,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,565,000 after purchasing an additional 21,574 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 21,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BRO. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Edward Jones initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.85.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock traded down $1.75 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $109.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,385,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,791,170. The company has a market capitalization of $31.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87. The company's fifty day moving average is $116.97 and its 200-day moving average is $110.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.97 and a 1 year high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.71%.

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.