Virtu Financial LLC Boosts Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 76.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,648 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,259,000 after acquiring an additional 94,121 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% during 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. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $198,031,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,768,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,378,000 after acquiring an additional 50,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,394,000 after acquiring an additional 40,881 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $121.75 on Thursday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.33 and a 52-week high of $122.61. The company has a market capitalization of $34.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.49%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.34%.

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.