Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases 465,028 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 66.0% in the first quarter, owning 1,169,936 shares worth approximately $145.54 million.
• Brown & Brown reported quarterly earnings of $1.03 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates of $0.99, and posted a revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.6%, to be paid on August 20th.

Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 66.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,169,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 465,028 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of Brown & Brown worth $145,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 626.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $239,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,589 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 13,974.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,112,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $138,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,852 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 172.5% during the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,314,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $163,516,000 after purchasing an additional 832,100 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 9,262.2% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 687,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $70,097,000 after purchasing an additional 679,756 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the first quarter valued at $72,895,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada acquired 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Krump purchased 2,678 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at $499,488.43. This represents a 100.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BRO. Wall Street Zen downgraded Brown & Brown from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $120.00 target price (down from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $109.00 to $105.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Brown & Brown from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Brown & Brown from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.64.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded up $0.2060 during trading on Friday, reaching $96.6060. 1,570,924 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,570,748. 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 firm has a market cap of $31.86 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.14. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.38 and a 12 month high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is 17.29%.

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.