Barclays PLC Increases Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 3.4 million shares valued at about $270.8 million.
• Other major institutions also added to or initiated positions, including Capital World Investors, Norges Bank, and Capital International Investors, and institutional ownership stands at 71.01% of the company.
• Brown & Brown reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.39 per share and revenue of $1.90 billion, while analysts currently maintain an overall Hold rating with a consensus price target of $78.44.

Barclays PLC grew its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 35.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,397,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 882,830 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 1.00% of Brown & Brown worth $270,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,639,392,000 after purchasing an additional 7,827,992 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $516,837,000. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $371,654,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 132.8% during the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 4,538,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $361,725,000 after buying an additional 2,589,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,501,264,000 after buying an additional 1,705,570 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BRO shares. Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set a "market outperform" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.44.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $59.96 on Monday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.81 and a 1 year high of $111.10. The firm has a market cap of $20.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. Brown & Brown's revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 13.13% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc NYSE: BRO is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.

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