Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Acquired by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,920 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $4,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Brown & Brown by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 323,882 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,042,000 after purchasing an additional 97,054 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 441,693 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,062,000 after buying an additional 10,076 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 81,733.5% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,191,000 after buying an additional 129,139 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth $313,412,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 274.9% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 25,820 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,634,000 after acquiring an additional 18,933 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 7.6 %

NYSE:BRO traded down $9.42 on Friday, reaching $115.01. The stock had a trading volume of 2,809,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,404,570. The company has a 50-day moving average of $115.03 and a 200 day moving average of $108.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $32.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. 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 issued 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.