ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Buys Shares of 4,236 Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc., purchasing 4,236 shares valued at approximately $527,000 during the first quarter.
• Insider purchases include significant stakes by Director Paul J. Krump, who bought 2,678 shares for about $249,884, increasing his position by over 100%.
• Brown & Brown recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, with a payout ratio of 17.29%, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.6% for stockholders.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $527,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 626.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $239,751,000 after buying an additional 2,026,589 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 13,974.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,112,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $138,427,000 after buying an additional 1,104,852 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Brown & Brown by 172.5% during the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,314,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $163,516,000 after purchasing an additional 832,100 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 9,262.2% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 687,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $70,097,000 after purchasing an additional 679,756 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in Brown & Brown by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,195,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $428,043,000 after purchasing an additional 566,116 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $94.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,642,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,849,457. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $31.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.78. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.38 and a 1 year high of $125.68. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $103.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.64.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%. Brown & Brown's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is 17.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada purchased 1,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,200. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Krump purchased 2,678 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 15.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BRO. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 target price (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $87.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.23.

Brown & Brown Company 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.