American Century Companies Inc. Grows Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 14.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,123 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 2.1% in the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 5.6% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 2.4% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $102.65 on Monday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.73 and a 1-year high of $106.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $101.68 and its 200 day moving average is $92.54. The company has a market cap of $29.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.83. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 21.95%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BRO shares. StockNews.com raised Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $94.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.67.

About Brown & Brown

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.