Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $174.01 Million Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,183,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,242 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $174,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth $30,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $58.85 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.81 and a 52 week high of $111.51. The firm has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BRO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating for the company. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.44.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.