Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Shares Purchased by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 417.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 209,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 169,399 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $13,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,418,571,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at about $266,941,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 45.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,623,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,417 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,569,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,786,000 after purchasing an additional 173,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,587,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,553,000 after purchasing an additional 180,593 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $77.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, October 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.47.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.7%

BRO opened at $71.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.93 and its 200 day moving average is $66.56. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.81 and a fifty-two week high of $82.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.52.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.29% and a net margin of 17.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 22.78%.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc. is an insurance brokerage and risk management company that helps businesses, public entities and individuals assess and manage risk. Its services include arranging property and casualty insurance, employee benefits and personal insurance, as well as providing risk management and related services. The company serves clients through retail insurance operations, national insurance programs, wholesale brokerage and insurance-related services. It operates primarily in the United States and also serves clients in international markets.