MUFG Securities EMEA plc Acquires 51,817 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 924.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 57,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,817 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $4,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,314,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.8% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,420,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,258,000 after acquiring an additional 51,959 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,501,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705,570 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 552,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,074,000 after acquiring an additional 19,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 43.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,558,000 after acquiring an additional 14,678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “market outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of BRO stock opened at $56.32 on Monday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.81 and a 12-month high of $113.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $62.56 and its 200 day moving average is $71.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.63.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.22%.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.