Stifel Financial Corp Increases Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 373,017 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,677 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.13% of Brown & Brown worth $38,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $313,412,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $239,751,000 after buying an additional 2,026,589 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $198,031,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099,199 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $117.50.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock traded down $7.81 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $107.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,255,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,441,503. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.91 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $30.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $118.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.62.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders 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 0.56%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

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.