Running Oak Capital LLC Buys 15,954 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Running Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,954 shares during the period. Brown & Brown comprises about 1.8% of Running Oak Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Running Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $9,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 166.5% during the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 174.0% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 150.6% during the 3rd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $82.85. 1,134,303 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,351,959. The firm has a market cap of $23.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.71 and a twelve month high of $87.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.09% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.10.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 144,323 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $12,406,005.08. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 37,460,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,220,113,605.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.