State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $8.84 Million Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,650 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $8,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the first quarter valued at approximately $899,139,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter valued at about $72,895,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,501,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,794,339,000 after purchasing an additional 560,980 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 66.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,169,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,540,000 after purchasing an additional 465,028 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 51.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 952,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,595,000 after purchasing an additional 323,733 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $88.03 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.58 and a 200-day moving average of $102.74. The company has a market cap of $29.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.79. 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 one year low of $86.79 and a one year high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 5th. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brown & Brown news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $457,200. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Krump bought 2,678 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $93.31 per share, with a total value of $249,884.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,488.43. The trade was a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 15.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.92.

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.