Global X Japan Co. Ltd. Acquires 771 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth approximately $313,412,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,026,589 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $198,031,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,054,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 13,974.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,112,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,852 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $108.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $111.94 and a 200 day moving average of $110.96. The firm has a market cap of $31.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.84. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.31 and a 1 year high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced 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). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BRO. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective (up from $116.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $127.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.85.

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.