Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 6,054 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 186,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,054 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. owned 0.07% of Brown & Brown worth $19,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth approximately $198,031,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099,199 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $71,915,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 258.0% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 646,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,985,000 after acquiring an additional 465,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,537,000 after purchasing an additional 371,980 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $119.93 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.66, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.33 and a 52-week high of $121.25.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on BRO. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown 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.