Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Purchased by Two Sigma Investments LP

Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 564.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 116,959 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $14,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 395.6% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 34,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,489,000 after acquiring an additional 27,297 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 189,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,365,000 after purchasing an additional 68,745 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at $580,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $138,394,000 after purchasing an additional 40,881 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 304,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,055,000 after buying an additional 50,510 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BRO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.85.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of BRO traded down $1.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $110.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,266,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,484,781. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.97 and a 52-week high of $125.68. The business's fifty day moving average is $115.21 and its 200 day moving average is $111.21. The firm has a market cap of $31.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. 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.