First Manhattan CO. LLC. Makes New $463,000 Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,054,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,964 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,316,259,000 after acquiring an additional 94,121 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,099,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $620,737,000 after acquiring an additional 118,569 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,195,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $428,043,000 after acquiring an additional 566,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,803,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,045,000 after acquiring an additional 388,411 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $111.42 on Monday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.97 and a 1-year high of $125.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $117.15 and a 200-day moving average of $110.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $31.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 16.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BRO. Barclays boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $138.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.67.

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.