Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Purchased by Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $2,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 77.6% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 324,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,079,000 after purchasing an additional 141,700 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 4,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,964 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 217,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,225,000 after acquiring an additional 50,837 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,274,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $121.44 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $111.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.82. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.33 and a 52-week high of $121.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $34.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors 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 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on 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, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.67.

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.