Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Bought by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 977.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 39,455 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $4,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO traded up $2.59 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $110.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,336,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,456,232. The company has a market cap of $31.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.60. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.57 and a 1 year high of $125.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BRO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Edward Jones assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.83.

About Brown & Brown

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.