167,200 Shares in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Bought by Visualize Group LP

Visualize Group LP bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 167,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $17,058,000. Brown & Brown comprises 10.8% of Visualize Group LP's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Visualize Group LP owned approximately 0.06% of Brown & Brown as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BRO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,316,259,000 after acquiring an additional 94,121 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,099,649 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $620,737,000 after acquiring an additional 118,569 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,195,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $428,043,000 after purchasing an additional 566,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,803,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $388,045,000 after purchasing an additional 388,411 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Edward Jones started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.67.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $110.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,150,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,462,882. The company has a market capitalization of $31.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $117.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.74. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $83.60 and a 1-year high of $125.68.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.71%.

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.