LPL Financial LLC Buys 63,724 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 29.3%, owning a total of 281,572 shares valued at approximately $35 million following the purchase of 63,724 additional shares.
• Brown & Brown reported $1.03 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, and has seen a 9.1% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, with an ex-dividend date on August 13th, resulting in a 0.7% dividend yield.

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 29.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 281,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 63,724 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.10% of Brown & Brown worth $35,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 626.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $239,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,589 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 13,974.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,112,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $138,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,852 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 172.5% in the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,314,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $163,516,000 after purchasing an additional 832,100 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 9,262.2% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 687,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $70,097,000 after purchasing an additional 679,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,195,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $428,043,000 after acquiring an additional 566,116 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday. Edward Jones started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $114.25.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.9%

BRO traded up $0.85 on Friday, hitting $92.22. The company had a trading volume of 3,540,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,637,384. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 6.72 and a quick ratio of 6.72. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.55 and a 52-week high of $125.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.78.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.29%.

Brown & Brown Company 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.