Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Shares Purchased by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 5.9%, acquiring an additional 11,963 shares, bringing its total ownership to about 214,896 shares valued at approximately $26.7 million.
• Brow & Brown's stock trading has seen varied analyst ratings, with Raymond James setting a price target of $120, while several firms adjusted their forecasts downwards.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.6%, and has a solid payout ratio of 17.29%.

Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,963 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned 0.07% of Brown & Brown worth $26,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,501,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,794,339,000 after buying an additional 560,980 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,940,046 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,609,742,000 after buying an additional 38,078 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth $899,139,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,120,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $512,545,000 after buying an additional 316,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 6.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,063,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $381,129,000 after purchasing an additional 181,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $457,200. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Krump bought 2,678 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. 17.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BRO. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Brown & Brown from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $101.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.64.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO traded down $1.86 on Tuesday, reaching $93.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,767,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,549,573. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.38 and a 12-month high of $125.68. The company has a current ratio of 6.72, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business's 50-day moving average price is $99.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.01. The company has a market cap of $30.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

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.