Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Sells 220,427 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lessened its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 34.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 426,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 220,427 shares during the quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned 0.15% of Brown & Brown worth $43,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.7% in 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 buying an additional 1,335,964 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 94,121 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,099,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $620,737,000 after purchasing an additional 118,569 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,195,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $428,043,000 after purchasing an additional 566,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,803,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,045,000 after purchasing an additional 388,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $111.95 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.97 and a 12-month high of $125.68. The company has a market cap of $32.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.14.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BRO shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.85.

Brown & Brown 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.