Madison Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,941,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $198,031,000. Brown & Brown makes up approximately 2.2% of Madison Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.7% in 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 buying an additional 94,121 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew 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 buying an additional 371,980 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 40,881 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,109,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,979,000 after buying an additional 330,661 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099,199 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $117.31 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $108.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.85. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.33 and a 1-year high of $121.31. 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 (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.17.

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.