Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Has $243,000 Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 80.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,221 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BRO. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth about $899,139,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth about $72,895,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,501,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,794,339,000 after purchasing an additional 560,980 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 66.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,169,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,540,000 after purchasing an additional 465,028 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 51.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 952,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,595,000 after purchasing an additional 323,733 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BRO shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Brown & Brown from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.92.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $457,200. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Krump purchased 2,678 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,488.43. The trade was a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 15.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 6.0%

NYSE:BRO opened at $82.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.39 and a twelve month high of $125.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $93.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.30. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 18.23%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 17.29%.

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.