Markel Group Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Markel Group Inc. bought a new position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $877,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Capital World Investors grew 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 valued at $1,639,392,000 after buying an additional 7,827,992 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,445,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,229 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,501,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,570 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 170.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,931,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $181,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,071 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,679.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,623 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $57.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.10. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.81 and a 12 month high of $113.83. The company has a market capitalization of $19.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 21.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BRO. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “market outperform” rating on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

About Brown & Brown

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.