6,484,778 Shares in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,484,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $516,837,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,634,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,999,497,000 after purchasing an additional 303,955 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 81.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,392,000 after purchasing an additional 7,827,992 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 13.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,445,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,229 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 5.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,120,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,230,602,000 after purchasing an additional 660,005 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $631,495,000 after purchasing an additional 118,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $56.32 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.56 and a 200-day moving average of $71.32. The stock has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.63. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.81 and a 52-week high of $113.83. 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 (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 21.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown 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.