Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Shares Acquired by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 33.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 130,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,000 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $14,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 18,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,314,000 after buying an additional 3,351 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 11.3% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,056,000 after acquiring an additional 3,362 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,502,000 after acquiring an additional 5,106 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.6% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 52,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,498,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter valued at $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BRO shares. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.92.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of BRO opened at $82.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $93.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.30. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.39 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.15. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 18.23%.The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul J. Krump acquired 2,678 shares of Brown & Brown 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 purchase, the director directly owned 5,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada acquired 1,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 15.59% of the company’s stock.

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.