National Pension Service Sells 26,327 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

National Pension Service cut its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 340,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,327 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $34,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 258.0% in the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 646,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,985,000 after purchasing an additional 465,988 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 17.8% in the third 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 last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 42.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,109,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,979,000 after purchasing an additional 330,661 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 129.3% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 547,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,670,000 after purchasing an additional 308,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 430,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,960,000 after purchasing an additional 254,900 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays upped 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 note on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock opened at $118.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $118.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.24 and a 200 day moving average of $105.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.