Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management increased its Brown & Brown stake by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 118,225 shares and bringing its holdings to 7,952,957 shares worth about $631.5 million.
• Brown & Brown reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.39 topping estimates and revenue rising 35.4% year over year to $1.90 billion.
• The stock traded lower and remains under a Hold consensus from analysts, with a current average price target of $79.44 despite a recent dividend payout and some insider buying.

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,952,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 118,225 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.33% of Brown & Brown worth $631,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,612 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 465.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,221 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Allstate Corp raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 95.2% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 10,332 shares during the period. MSH Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $283,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of BRO opened at $56.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.81 and a 1 year high of $113.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.37. The firm has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.66.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. The company's revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on BRO. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set a "market outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.44.

About Brown & Brown

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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