Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 367,500 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 771.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 415,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 367,500 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $43,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,355,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,482,223,000 after acquiring an additional 203,105 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,144,893,000 after purchasing an additional 86,824 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,489,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,979,000 after purchasing an additional 687,783 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 105.1% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,553,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,899,000 after purchasing an additional 114,688 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $105.65. 1,080,895 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,303,466. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $102.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.18. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.73 and a 1 year high of $106.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 21.95%. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 16.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Argus started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays began coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $94.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.67.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.