Sciencast Management LP Purchases New Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 324.3% in the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,967,000 after acquiring an additional 14,740 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 161,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,104,000 after acquiring an additional 6,805 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,394,000 after purchasing an additional 40,881 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 304,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,055,000 after buying an additional 50,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silphium Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd now owns 48,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,976,000 after acquiring an additional 10,530 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.2 %

BRO stock opened at $118.38 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $80.33 and a one year high of $121.25. 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 firm has a market cap of $33.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $111.55 and its 200 day moving average is $107.67.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. On average, research 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 was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

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.