Local Pensions Partnership Investment Ltd Boosts Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Local Pensions Partnership Investment Ltd increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 4.4% to 406,000 shares (about $32.36M), representing roughly 0.12% of the company and its 27th largest holding.
• Several large institutions — notably Vanguard, Capital World Investors, Principal and State Street — also boosted positions, and hedge funds/institutions now own about 71.01% of Brown & Brown.
• Analysts have been trimming price targets recently; the stock carries an average rating of Hold with a mean target of $84.27, while shares trade near $67.74 (12‑month range $63.29–$119.06).

Local Pensions Partnership Investment Ltd increased its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 406,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 17,000 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown accounts for about 0.6% of Local Pensions Partnership Investment Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Local Pensions Partnership Investment Ltd owned approximately 0.12% of Brown & Brown worth $32,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% in 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. Capital World Investors boosted 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 worth $1,639,392,000 after buying an additional 7,827,992 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,445,888,000 after buying an additional 1,821,229 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,120,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,230,602,000 after buying an additional 660,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,802,327 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $217,517,000 after buying an additional 57,274 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $81.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $78.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.27.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $67.74 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.29 and a 12 month high of $119.06. The stock has a market cap of $23.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.83. The company's 50 day moving average is $68.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.63%.

Brown & Brown Company 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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