51,289 Shares in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Purchased by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 51,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,290,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,374,000. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at $247,000. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth $326,000. Finally, Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at $515,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $74.64 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.97 and a 200-day moving average of $65.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.11. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.81 and a 52-week high of $97.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.59.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 20.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Brown & Brown from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $79.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.80.

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.